


Where in the World is Yakko Sandiego?

by SariSpy56



Category: Animaniacs, Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019), Disney - All Media Types, Looney Tunes | Merrie Melodies, Pinky and the Brain
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Both Disney and Warner Bros. characters are in the mix, Crimes & Criminals, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Carmen Sandiego Netflix series, We love a found family trope, this is what happens when I watch Animaniacs and Carmen Sandiego at the same time, you will find out soon later on in the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28881939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SariSpy56/pseuds/SariSpy56
Summary: Yakko Sandiego is the world's most elusive and witty super thief who has yet to be captured by law enforcement, including a glory-seeking Inspector Daffy Duck. Accompanied by Pinky and the Brain, a pair of lab mice with one having a talent for hacking, and Wakko and Dot Warner, a pair of orphaned siblings with secrets of their own, Yakko steals from V.I.L.E. and gives their stolen treasure back to its rightful owners, all while trying to figure out his own past.
Relationships: Brain & Pinky (Animaniacs), Daffy Duck & Porky Pig, Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner, The Brain & Yakko Warner
Comments: 37
Kudos: 61





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the end results of having an interest in Animaniacs, and Carmen Sandiego (Netflix series), both at the same time. Thus a Yakko Sandiego AU was born.
> 
> Why is Yakko playing the role of Carmen Sandiego?
> 
> ⭐He's my favorite character  
> ⭐He's the only one who knew a whole lot about geography (remember Yakko's world, anyone?)

__

_-Poitiers, France-_

The moon was shining bright in the historic city of Poitiers, France. The medieval cathedrals were aglow with the moonlight as residents made their way home across cobblestone streets.

All except for two.

A sleek black car cruised through the empty streets of Poitiers in the dead of night. Inside the car are two agents from Interpol - a lanky, black-feathered duck who had an arrogant and confident look on his face, and a short, pink pig who had a shy and meek demeanor. The duck wore a brown suit jacket, though ironed very horribly, with a striped red tie, and a plain white shirt underneath. To complete his “badass” look, the duck wore a pair of dark sunglasses where no one could see his eyes behind the dark lens. The pig on the other hand wore his usual blue jacket and red bowtie.

“In just the last few weeks alone,” the duck spoke with a noticeable lisp. “This…. _Yakko Sandiego_ has managed to rob millions of dollars combined from the First National Bank of America, a high-end art gallery from Switzerland, and an English amusement park.”

“Before v-v-vani-v-v-he disappeared.” the pig replied. “HQ h-h-has yet to d-d-dis-d-d-find anything in common with the h-h-heists, except for o-one thing.”

The duck eyed the pig. “And that is…?”

The pig continued, despite his stuttering. “Our p-p-pre-prepret-p-p-thief always wears a s-s-sca-s-s-red coat, and a-a-a fedora. Almost as if he wants to a-a-announce his crimes by making r-r-random public appearances beforehand.”

“Like how we saw him at a nearby café earlier?” The duck laughed. “That’s ridiculous, Porky! What kind of criminal would be dumb enough to draw attention to himself by leaving clues and wearing bold colors?”

The pig, Porky, looked at his feet nervously. “M-m-maybe he thinks that st-st-stealing is just a game to him, Daffy?”

Ah yes, the one called Yakko Sandiego. Both Daffy, and Porky knew him too well, and who could blame them? Yakko Sandiego was an infamous world-class thief, known for constantly evading capture from law enforcement all over the world. No one was able to get too close to him. Of course. The files on Porky’s tablet did mention that Yakko Sandiego was 14 years old. Still a young kid. But one that is breaking too many laws, and is in dire need of tough discipline.

When Daffy, and Porky heard the rumors about Yakko Sandiego being in Poitiers two days ago, they, actually Daffy himself, took the opportunity to organize his capture. They would not let Interpol down.

“Well, this little game of his has got to stop, and do you know why, Porky?”

Porky shook his head. “N-n-n-n-no. I do not. E-explain it to me.”

“You see…” Daffy explained. “What Yakko Sandiego doesn’t know is that he is in MY jurisdiction now!”

Daffy narrowed his eyes. “The question now is … why is he here? What evil plot has Lapin Rouge come up with tonight?”

Porky gave Daffy a funny look. “O-o-one, you technically asked me t-t-t-two questions, and two, Lapin Rouge? Really? L-l-last time I checked, Daffy, it’s _Yakko Sandiego._ ”

“Never mind the minor details, Porky!” Daffy replied rudely. “Besides, Lapin Rouge makes him a bit more… mysterious, don’t you agree?”

“I-I-if you say so, Daffy,” Porky sighed before looking outside of the car. He failed to notice a red blur as a figure darting across the street in front of the car.

“Y’know, Poitiers is very r-r-r-rich with m-m-medieval history.” Porky explained. “M-m-maybe he’s targeting a p-priceless antique or historical a-a-artifact from one of it’s m-m-m-m-many churches, or-”

The car came to an abrupt halt.

And yet… there was nothing happening in front of the car. Porky looked at his partner who had a serious look on his face.

Porky was afraid to ask THAT question. “W-w-was it something I say?”

And he was unsure of what Daffy’s answer would be.

Well, he got his answer alright.

“Porky Pig. Are you an agent of Interpol, or are you some museum guide?” Daffy had asked him.

“A-agent of Interpol.” Porky replied nervously.

Daffy asked again. “And how long have you been in the force?”

“T-t-two weeks.” Porky answered

Daffy scowled. “Then why is it that you would waste our precious time sharing dull facts about boring things when we could be out there in the field, catching criminals, and getting all the glory like the ones on TV?”

Porky didn’t answer. Instead, through one of the mirrors, he had taken notice of something red heading into an alleyway behind the car. 

And then, he got a better look.

A young toon, no older than 14, wearing the scarlet coat and fedora. The young toon was tall, for a young teenager, had black fur, no doubt, with a bright red nose, and cream-white face fur, but Porky couldn’t quite make out what kind of animal the toon was supposed to be.

Somewhat dog-like, but Porky was certain that this toon was probably a mix of a rabbit, and a cat. This toon does have long ears like a rabbit, and yet, has the tail of a cat.

Could it be possible that this toon was one of the 420 children of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Ortensia?

It has to be him.

Yakko Sandiego.

“Have I taught you anything since you’ve been assigned to my department?” Daffy’s voice caught Porky’s attention.

“C-c-could you repeat that?” Porky asked, his eyes still locked on Yakko Sandiego.

Daffy sighed, but smiled. “Since you’ve only been in the force for merely two weeks, I’ll let that slide for now. You still have so much to learn if you want to be a great Interpol agent like myself.”

Porky’s eyes are still locked on Yakko Sandiego who for some reason is just standing there, doing nothing. “D-Daffy…”

“Nuh-uh-uh!” Daffy shushed the pig by placing a finger over his lips. “Just sit back, watch, and learn how to catch a real thief.”

Porky had enough of this. He grabbed both sides of Daffy’s head, and turned it to Yakko Sandiego’s direction.

“He’s right there!”

No sooner had both agents taken a good look at Yakko Sandiego. In what seems like hours of silence, Daffy was the first to snap out of it.

“LAPIN ROUGE!”

Daffy wasted no time turning the car around, and went after the toon in red who made a run for it. Yakko Sandiego stopped in his tracks, and pulled out a grappling hook from his hammerspace. He aimed at the rooftops. He fired a grapnel overhead, and was gracefully pulled skyward toward the rooftops. Daffy growled.

Yakko Sandiego had been right in front of him - and now he was getting away!

Daffy hit the brakes, and hastily got out of the car, an arrogant grin on his face. He turned to Porky.

“Wait here!”

“A-a-and call for backup?” Porky asked, raising an eyebrow.

Daffy looked at him funny. “Are you crazy? You expect me to share all the glory of me catching THE Yakko Sandiego with a bunch of rookie losers?”

The stubborn duck ran off on foot.

_Typical._ Porky thought bitterly. _Always hogging all the glory._

“The Crimson Ghost is mine!”

* * *

Meanwhile, at the top of an orange-tiled rooftop, Yakko Sandiego oversaw the beautiful cityscape of Poitiers. The view here was beautiful. In the distance, he could see La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, the moonlight shining on the cathedral’s front side.

“On top of the world.” He spoke, finally. “I can see La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre from here.”

From what he had learned from the history books, La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre was a Roman Catholic church built in the 12th century, and out of all the churches in Poitiers, this one was considered the largest.

Yakko had been all over the world, and he never got tired of all the beautiful sights he encountered during his life-long career as a super thief. He couldn’t help himself, when he looked at the beautiful Poitiers cityscape. Even when on a tight schedule.

_“As much as I like the idea of sight-seeing in Poitiers, Yakko, I must remind you that we are on a mission."_ It came from Yakko’s ear communicator.

“Brain,” Yakko replied. “Glad to hear you, and Pinky are on board.”

* * *

_-Acme Labs - Burbank, California-_

Two laboratory mice are standing in front of a computer with several monitors - overlooking the city of Poitiers.

“Paris sure looks lovely tonight, Brain.” the taller mouse, Pinky spoke.

The smaller mouse, Brain, sighed. “We’ve been through this several times already, Pinky. We’re in Poitiers.”

“Sorry, Brain.”

“However, speaking of Paris...” Brain diverted his attention back to the computer screen. “You are correct to point out that Paris, that is _virtual_ Paris, does look lovely tonight. Just give me a few moments to lock in on Yakko’s position over in Poitiers, and … voila! We’re in sync.”

Brain picked up his gigantic headphones with a mic. “Yakko, if our intel is accurate, the next stop on your sight-seeing tour in historic Poitiers should be… 50 yards dead ahead.”

* * *

_-Poitiers, France-_

Yakko darted forward across the rooftops, heading towards his destination.

“How’s my temperature, Brain?” He asked.

_“Warm, Yakko.”_ Brain replied through the communicator.

_“Oh geez, is he sick, Brain?”_ Yakko heard Pinky’s voice from the other end.

He swore he heard Brain smacking Pinky on the head, and a “Narf!” from Pinky.

“ _Sorry for the slight interruption, Yakko.”_ Brain responded, maintaining his composure. “ _You’re getting warmer.”_

Yakko kept running, not noticing Daffy trailing behind. He even performed some cool parkour tricks along the way - somersaults, cartwheels, backflips, you name it. He even did the “boingy-boingy” technique, not the kind of thing a toon thief like him should use when performing stealth missions.

_“You’re red hot.”_

Finally, Yakko had arrived at his location - a beautiful 19th century French chateau penthouse that had belonged to someone who is very, very rich.

“It’s a shame that I gotta rob this place.” Yakko spoke as he climbed up to the roof of the chateau via a grappling hook. “Besides, the owner of this place is one of my … _special friends_ , if ya know what I mean.”

Duly noted.

Yakko went for the roof’s electrical security-alarm box - this was his main objective for now. Reaching for his hammerspace, Yakko pulled out a small memory stick, and opened the box.

Eying the lone USB port, Yakko inserted the memory stick into its place, allowing Brain to get to work on disabling the security via his hacking skills. The light on the security-alarm box went from red to green instantly.

“ _Security systems are disabled!”_ Pinky cried from the other end. _“You can go in!”_

Yakko got to work. First things first is that he needed to find a way inside the chateau, preferably the top floor where the main goal of this mission is. He scanned the roof thoroughly until his eyes were locked onto the skylight window not far from where he is standing.

Perfect.

He walked towards the glass roof, and when he got close, he pulled out a glass cutter, and a suction cup from his hammerspace. He cut a decently-sized part of the roof in a perfect circle whilst the suction cup was placed on the area that he had cut, just to make sure that the piece won’t fall down to the ground, drawing unwanted attention. 

Best-case scenario - common police officers would try, and fail, to capture him. He was too good of a thief to get caught by them. Worst-case scenario, however - the owner’s personal security guards who can put up a challenge.

Thank god no one was home at the moment. Not even the owner.

Carefully, Yakko removed the circular glass piece from its place, and gently set it on the ground. The glass cutter, and the suction cup were put away in his hammerspace. In their place, Yakko summoned the grappling hook again, hooked the hook to the edge of the circular hole so that he could make his descent inside the chateau.

He smiled. This was too easy.

_“I don’t mean to alarm you, Yakko, but I’m picking up another signal, one that I seemed to have missed when disabling the security system earlier.”_ He heard Brain’s voice from the communicator. “ _It could be a trap.”_

Trust Brain to look out for him. While lowering himself, Yakko took the time to admire the view in the room. 

It was a thief’s paradise.

The room beautifully decorated with furniture made of some of the finest wood in the world, and valuable antiques filling up the room in a neat fashion- from sets of Chinese Ming vases to giant African masks. Hanging on the ceilings were beautiful glass chandeliers that could light up a rainbow in the room if it could.

This was a room definitely fit for a king.

_“Watch your step, Yakko!”_ He heard Pinky’s voice.

What perfect timing. Yakko was just inches away from reaching the floor.

_Watch… my… step._

The eyes of the three African masks from the wall on Yakko’s right glowed red. Brain was right to warn him earlier.

It was a trap.

Dozens of arrows began shooting from the mouths of the African masks. They were aiming at him, deadly and fast! Thinking quickly, Yakko pulled a giant iron shield from his hammerspace, and shield himself from the incoming arrows. All at once, the arrows hit the shield. Most ended up being deflected and thus fell to the ground, others ended up getting stuck to the iron shield.

When Yakko was certain that the African masks had run out of arrows to shoot at him, he took it as his cue to drop his shield, and then he made a safe landing on the floor.

_“Yakko! Are you alright?”_ Brain cried.

“You do realize that toons can’t really die, right?” Yakko responded. “I would just keep bouncing back, and continue on like nothing has happened.”

_“Toon or not, you ought to be more careful in the future. This is not the time to get cocky.”_

Regular human thieves would have been on edge after getting shot at with arrows, but for toon thieves like him, it was just another Wednesday.

Though he did take Brain’s advice a bit more seriously. He may be zany, but he’s not stupid.

He looked around the vast living area, and his eyes settled on the atrium that reached all the way from the floor to the ceiling. He got to work.

* * *

_WHOOSH!_

Daffy had kicked the doors of the estate wide open with his bare foot. He had arrived at the scene of the crime. Knowing that Yakko Sandiego is at the top floor, Daffy wasted no time to get to the top. He had two choices - take the old elevator, or take the stairs.

He arrogantly went with the old elevator. Keyword being “old”.

He did not take into account that old elevators that date back to the 19th century don’t necessarily have the same speed as elevators of today.

“Y’know, for someone who’s very rich, you’d think they’d switch the old, slow one out with the new FAST one.” Daffy muttered. “I’ve got a criminal to catch.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Yakko is on a search for something with Brain’s help. He is currently hearing for something within an atrium.

“Uhhhh… who walls up an atrium?” Yakko asked Brain as he rapped his hands on the shelf.

“ _Anyone that values storage over natural light, I believe.”_ Brain replied. “ _I highly suspect that this owner has something that they don’t want others to know about.”_

“Or the owner wasn’t paying any attention at school, and didn’t know what the purpose of an atrium is.” Yakko added.

He looked inside the porcelain containers, behind the sets of china plates, pulled some books from its place, looked behind the large painting, even looked for hidden buttons somewhere on the seemingly-fake fireplace, but so far, nothing has happened.

That is until he pulled an ormolu candle sconce on the wall.

Yakko took a few steps back as he witnessed the middle part of the walled atrium move forward for a bit before shifting dramatically to the left, revealing a large vault. It was securely locked with an electric keypad. He opened his scarlet coat for a moment, revealing a handful of tools tucked away in various inside pockets. He eyed the one stored in the bottom pocket - a small, yet sleek keypad.

_This one should do._

Yakko placed the keypad into the vault’s door, and with the press of a button, he allowed the keypad to do its job. Numbers began to flash on the keypad’s screen, one after another, as it searched for the combination that would open the vault. After a moment, a sequence of numbers locked in place of the screen. Parts of the vault began to move. Yakko heard a lock clicked, and then he saw the vault door open right before his very eyes. Yakko smiled.

The vault was a massive cave-like room. Inside the vault were different kinds of jewels , artifacts and other valuables safely stored away in the vault, most of them sealed in glass containers for safekeeping. But the vast piles of treasures inside are not what Yakko came for in the first place. For a thief, Yakko was not the greedy kind. Instead, what he’s looking for is located right in front of him, at the end of the vault.

A large blue gemstone safely rested on a pedestal.

_“The Eye of Vishnu,”_ Brain revealed to both Yakko, and the readers reading this. “ _Said to be lost centuries ago, but here is it hidden away in a vault, and it will soon be yours, Yakko.”_

Yakko took a few steps towards the vault. He was going to get in the vault, grab the Eye of Vishnu, and get out of here. As he was about to enter the vault, something caught his eyes.

He gasped.

_“Something wrong, Yakko?”_ Brain asked.

“Don’t mean to get sidetracked, Brain” Yakko replied as he walked towards a glass cabinet nearby, tears in his eyes. “But I’m staring at something I thought I’d never see again.”

_“Whatever it is, it better be more valuable than sparkly blue gemstone about the size of a soccer ball.”_

Yakko chuckled. “Define 'valuable', genius. They say that beauty’s in the eye of the beholder.”

_“Gee, Yakko!”_ Pinky cried on the other end. “ _Aren’t you going to tell us what it is?”_

Yakko was about to answer Pinky’s question when he heard a loud knock on the door. 

_Darn it! Someone’s here!_

“Interpol!” Open this door!” Daffy’s voice yelled from outside the room.

_“It’s the fuzz!”_ Yakko heard Pinky cry on the other end.

Yakko had to find a way to get out of here quickly. But he can’t leave here empty-handed.

Not when he came this far, and so close to his goal.

Outside the room, Daffy kept knocking on the door aggressively.

“I said open up!” He yelled.

Running out of patience, Daffy slammed his body into the door, hoping that the force would break it open. It had worked. The door violently flung open, prompting Daffy to fall into the ground. He groaned in pain.

“That’s the price I’m willing to pay to be an awesome Interpol agent.” Duffy muttered.

He got up on his feet, fixed up his attire, and fixed his sunglasses. When he was done, he gasped.

He saw the young Yakko Sandiego in the flesh, holding a small sack in his hands.

He saw the opened safe.

He put two and two together.

Yakko Sandiego has stolen something, and it’s up to Daffy to stop him.

“Stop! Thief!” Daffy yelled at Yakko as he ran towards him.

Yakko paid no attention to Daffy, kicking a nearby stool at the duck which tripped him in the process. It gave Yakko an opportunity to jump over him.

“Hate to break it to you, doc, but on whose authority?” Yakko playfully asked Daffy.

Daffy got up on his feet, glaring at the young toon. “On the authority of-”

Where the heck was his ID card? Did he misplace it somewhere?

“Inspector Daffy Duck, Interpol.”

Oh no!

Yakko HAD to steal his ID card from him when he wasn’t looking. How did even do that? And without him noticing it?

“Daffy, eh?” Yakko studied the ID card again before throwing it back to the angry duck. “Well let’s hope you don’t live up to your namesake. I mean what kind of parents would name their kid “Daffy”?”

“I would ask you the same question, _Yakko!_ ” Daffy yelled in frustration. “If that’s even your real name!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yakko does a fake yawn. “Well it’s been nice chatting with you, but I’ve got somewhere to be right now.”

“Like a detention center.” Daffy replied, bringing out the handcuffs. “I’m placing you under arrest.”

Yakko smirked. He liked a good challenge.

This would be fun.

“Well, if you _really_ want to arrest me this badly, you’re gonna have to catch me first.”

Before Daffy could react, Yakko threw something on the ground, releasing giant clouds of smoke that hindered the duck’s vision. Daffy coughed, and shields his eyes from the smoke. When the smoke cleared up, he realized one thing.

Yakko Sandiego was nowhere to be found.

But he did notice one of the windows being opened.

He ran towards the opened window, and who did he see from afar?

Yakko running on the roof. What amazes him is that Yakko had excellent parkour skills.

_This kid is good._ Daffy thought.

Kid or not, Yakko Sandiego had committed a crime, and it’s his job as an inspector to arrest him. Hopefully he could convince the judge to go easy on the kid, and have him sent to a rehabilitation center where he could get the help he needed, and finally become an upstanding citizen one day. Nobody could figure out what this kid had to go through growing up, but he knew that the kid had a future up ahead, and the duck is going to make sure that his future isn’t destroyed by his constant need to commit crimes.

In a way, he felt sorry for Yakko.

“I order you to stop!” Daffy yelled.

Surprisingly, it had worked. Yakko froze in his tracks.

Perfect. If only he could find a way to get close to Yakko. What he knew so far is that Yakko is on the roof of the left section of the building, and the only way to get to it is by the ledge, but it was far too narrow for him to simply walk across without falling. Pushing himself to the wall, Daffy made his way across at a very slow pace.

Yakko was not the kind of thief to stay still for too long.

“You didn’t say for how long.” he teased, and in an instant, he was off running again.

“It was implied!” Daffy yelled, finally making across the ledge, and he resumed the chase for the toon thief.

Across the rooftops, the toons ran until Daffy saw Yakko heading straight for the edge of a tall building, with nowhere left to run or jump.

_I got him now!_ Daffy thought triumphantly.

He could see it now. All the glory and respect he would receive as the inspector who finally caught the world’s most elusive thief. He would even get the respect he deserved from his co-workers and superiors, both of whom have doubts about his competence as a law enforcer, and have relentlessly mocked him for being a mere laughingstock.

Yakko had reached the roof’s edge, and turned to face Daffy. The duck smiled. He had him right where he wanted him, and he had nowhere to go.

“You’ve let larceny taint what should’ve been the best years of your young life, kid.” Daffy spoke.

Yakko said nothing.

“I know you’ve been through rough times throughout your childhood that led you to a world of crime,” Daffy continued in a softer tone this time. “But this shouldn’t be the only way of surviving in this big, cruel world.”

He walked closer to Yakko who hadn't moved from his spot. He reached out his hand to the young toon who eyed him curiously.

“Please give up this life of crime. Allow me to help rehabilitate you. Become an upstanding citizen of the law.”

Yakko finally broke his silence.

“Gee, this is all very nice to hear, Inspector Duck, but, uhhhhhh… I think I’m gonna pass. Au revoir!”

He stepped off the roof, leaving Daffy to stare in disbelief.

Why would Yakko do that? Sure, he was a criminal and all, but he didn’t have to do _that!_ Was his whole life really that bad to begin with?

All of his thoughts were pushed aside as he saw hang-glider wings extending from Yakko’s backpack strapped to Yakko’s back. He soared up and over the streets of Poitiers with grace and ease, as if he had done this before.

Daffy sighed in relief. Thank god, the kid’s alright.

Unfortunately for the duck, he got too distracted by Yakko’s graceful escape that he realized too late that he was slipping to the edge. He got too close. He tried to balance himself to avoid falling. He couldn’t, and he fell. He was catapulting in a downward spiral toward the cobblestone road.

_CRASH!_

The duck fell onto the front of his car, still parked in that same spot he had left with Porky earlier. Speaking of Porky, he weakly saw a shocked Porky gazing up at him from the passenger seat. He could even hear his car alarm going off.

_“WILL YOU TURN THAT BLASTED CAR ALARM OFF! I’VE GOT WORK TOMORROW!”_

He even heard the screams of an angry neighbor who was rudely awakened by his loud car alarm, and his aching body slowly slid off the damaged car.

Porky was quick to turn off the alarm before things could get worse. He helped Daffy get up on his feet.

“D-d-did you just-”

“Never mind that!” Daffy interrupted. He pointed skyward to where Yakko was gliding, a bright flash of red against the twilight sky.

“ _Where in the world is Yakko Sandiego?_ ”


	2. The Train Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko comes across a familiar face, Daffy remains relentless on his hunt for the toon thief in red, Porky... is just there, I guess.

Yakko had to admit that the naturalistic, lush French countryside looked even more beautiful than the sparkling lights of Poitiers at nighttime. He wished he could stay up in the sky and admire the view a little longer.

“The view up here sure is beautiful,” Yakko spoke, and then spotted a moving train up ahead. “I’m right on schedule, Brain.”

_“Excellent,"_ Brain replied from the other end. _“In a few seconds, Yakko, I will be purchasing your ticket.”_

A beeping noise was heard from his coat. Yakko pulled out his mobile phone from his coat, and took a look at the screen. He had been notified that he had a valid train ticket. Brain didn’t have to do it. Helping him get past the tough security at the chateau earlier should have been more than enough for the small mouse. Yakko made a mental note to thank Brain for the train ticket later on.

He made a quick landing at the nearest train station. As soon as he was on the ground, he spun around a few times, and voila! Yakko had traded in his red trench coat and fedora for a pair of white toon gloves, and a pair of smoky topaz slacks that reached up to his waist, one that was pretty much too big for his seemingly thin frame. It was a good thing that he was able to keep his slacks up with a large black belt. He had a black and red satchel on his shoulders that contained all the necessary things he may need for the trip, and the stolen item.

It was a toon skill that he had learned a long time ago. It was pretty common in the toon world, and it was one that a young toon should learn as soon as they learned how to walk and talk. In times where he would need to avoid being seen by his enemies, this common toon skill would come in handy. Getaways are most successful when one would blend in with the crowd, he had remembered.

He made his way to his train compartment, and, after showing the train conductor his legit train ticket from his phone, stepped inside. The plush velvet seats in the train car, the art deco interior design, and the passing French scenery out the window were welcome sights.

This was definitely first class. He felt like an outsider just being inside the beautiful compartment, like he didn’t belong in there.

“Aww, you guys didn’t really have to do that.” Yakko said with a smile as he sat down on the velvet seats, setting the satchel beside him.

_“Surprise!”_ Pinky’s voice cried in excitement from the other end. _“This is our gift to you for being a great friend!”_

_“What my friend is saying, Yakko, is that this is on the house.”_ Brain interjected. _“You definitely earned it.”_

Well, he can’t really argue with that. It had been a successful job, despite the meddlings of a certain duck inspector.

* * *

Back at Acme Labs, both Pinky and the Brain begin to wonder whether Yakko has stolen the Eye of Vishnu, or whether the object resting inside his satchel was the one that caught his eyes back at the chateau. Neither of them questioned the young toon. He would eventually tell them soon enough. 

Yakko has his reasons. The best they can do now is trust him.

* * *

Yakko opened his satchel and began looking for something until he found what he was looking for - the small sack that contained the stolen item.

He was about to open the sack when he heard the door to his compartment open.

“Well, well…” a young, sexy female voice spoke to him. “Isn’t this a blast from the past?”

Yakko turned around and saw… _her._

She was a young and beautiful anthropomorphic mink. She had white fur with long blonde hair, and an enormous soft blonde tail. She had such a pretty face with a small pink nose and a pair of sweet black eyes with blue eye shadows. She appeared taller than Yakko, which would imply that she was a few years older than him. She wore a skin-tight purple and yellow catsuit, her cleavage being shown, and in her hands was a metal rod that looked very high-tech.

Yakko seemed to be somewhat distracted by the female mink’s… _assets_ for a moment, and was tempted to cry out “HELLO NURSE!”, but quickly snapped out of it.

“Minerva.”

Before he could react, the female mink, Minerva, pressed a button on the side of the rod. A jolt of electricity coursed through the compartment, and everything went white.

* * *

“A-a-are you sure it’s safe to d-drive, Daffy?” Porky asked, observing the scenario taking place right now.

Ever since Daffy’s… _accident_ on the roof, the once sleek black car has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. The front hood had multiple dents on it in the shape of Daffy’s body when he first crashed into it. The front window was severely cracked to the point where even a small gust of wind would break the glass entirely. One of the front lights was broken. The front license plate was crooked, but it was the least damaged part of the car, aside from the rear view of the car. Despite the damage, Daffy threw open the door to his car, acting as if nothing had happened.

Porky was certain that this was a safety violation. Daffy didn’t seem to care.

All he cared about was catching Yakko Sandiego.

“He can’t stay up in the sky forever, y'know.” Daffy spoke confidently. “Sooner or later, he would have to come back down to earth, and I'll be there to catch him!”

“W-w-well how far would he g-go?” Porky asked.

Realization suddenly dawned on the duck. Of course! Why didn’t he think of it before?

“He is heading to the train station!”

He turned to Porky, a serious look on his face as he got inside the damaged car.

“Porky, go to the crime scene, and figure out what was stolen! I will catch Lapin Rouge before he makes his escape!”

“R-r-right away, Daffy!” Porky replied as he got out of the way to give Daffy’s car some space.

“And one more thing, Porky, my bestest pal.”

“Y-yes?”

The duck leaned towards the passenger window. “See if you can grab a couple of valuable stuff that we can sell at the pawn shop later on. We’re getting low on rent money again.”

What? Did he hear it right? Daffy wanted him to go steal some stuff during a crime scene? Just to make quick money?

“Daffy, y-you know we Interpol agents can’t do t-that!” Pinky pointed out. “I-i-it goes against everything we st-st-stand for!”

“Look, a lot of cool cops break the rules sometimes, and they don't get in trouble for it.” Daffy reassured the nervous pig. “This is the real world, and in this real world, some rules are meant to be broken in order to get what we want.”

Porky felt uncertain. “A-aren’t our salaries usually enough to p-pay this m-m-month’s rent?”

“Uhhh….” Daffy needed to change the subject fast, he slammed his feet onto the gas pedal. “I must follow Lapin Rouge! Now!”

The car screeched through the narrow roads of Poitiers as Daffy made his way to the train station at a fast, aggressive pace, not bothered by the clanging sounds of his dented hood that could fly out of the vehicle any moment now, nor the cracked window about to burst due to the high speed. He could see a flash of bright red heading towards the station. 

  
  


His foot still firmly on the gas pedal, Daffy sped the car up even more than it should alongside the station just in time to see the train pulling away. Undeterred, he turned his car toward the train tracks, and with the twist of the steering wheel, he had the car lurched up next to the tracks.

_You won’t get away from me this time!_

* * *

“So I guess this is your way of saying hello?” Yakko had the tendency to joke, even when his right hand had winched in pain, the small sack already on the floor.

“This is just a temporary side effect of the directional EMP, kid.” Minerva explained. “It should wear off soon, but don’t bother reaching for your phone or fancy toys. They’re dead.”

“Yeah, I know what an _electromagnetic pulse_ does, Minerva.” Yakko added, picking up the small sack. “You’re not the only one who passed Dr. Scratchy’s class.”

He sat back down on the train seat, giving the mink a confident smile.

“Do you honestly think I’d be dumb enough to steal something without looking for any sort of tracking devices first, huh?”

Minerva stared at Yakko, unable to hold her surprise.

“That’s right, toots. I _wanted_ you to find me.” Minerva angrily sat down on the opposite side. “I think it’s about time we tied up some loose ends.”

“ _You_ were the only loose end… until five seconds ago,” Minerva interjected, smiling. “When I captured the great Yakko Sandiego.”

She leaned forward.

“Or was it… Lucky Rabbit?”

_Lucky Rabbit._ That was a name he hadn't heard in a while.

Ah yes, he remembered like it was yesterday.

_A young 12-year old Lucky Rabbit was at the assembly hall with a large group of students who appeared to be much older than him. Some were teenagers, and some were young adults. However, he only seemed to remember five students more so than the others._

_The first one, sitting to his right was a young, slender Brazilian parrot with green feathers, tail feathers consisting of a red one between two blue ones, a pair reddish-brown eyes, and yellow beak and feet. Like the rest of the new students, the parrot wore the standard school uniform - a pale greyish-green short-sleeved t-shirt, and a pair of track pants, also a greyish-green color. As it was common for toons, the parrot also wore a pair of yellow gloves. The most unique thing about this parrot was that he wore a red baseball cap to go with his uniform. It does add a bit of personality after all. He looked calm and collected._

_The second one, sitting next to the parrot was a young, slender Mexican rooster with auburn feathers, though his hands are colored white, and much like everyone else, he too wore the school uniform, with the addition of wearing a giant sombrero. He seemed like a fun guy to hang around with._

_The third one, sitting in front of him was a young duck with white feathers, and black eyes. Again, he wore the standard school uniform like everyone else. It seemed that he was practicing the art of manspreading - a technique where he would adopt a sitting position with his legs spread apart, and his arms resting on the seats._

_The fourth one, sitting two seats from his left, was an older-looking dachshund with grey fur, long, floppy black ears, a red nose, and black eyes. He too wore the school uniform, though he also wore a blue dog collar around his next. He wasn’t paying any attention to what the speaker was saying because he was too busy making googly eyes at the fifth and final student that he remembered, and she happened to be sitting between him, and the horny mutt._

_Minerva Mink._

_Even in the past, she still looked beautiful, and younger too, only back then, she had her long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail. She gave the dachshund a disgusted look as the latter wouldn’t stop drooling over her._

_At center stage in front of the audience, standing behind the podium, his back facing the gigantic school emblem - a green hexagon-shaped globe with a giant V placed in front - was Coach Pete. He was a large, obese black cat who had a cream shaven muzzle. Unlike the students, he wore the typical gym coach tracksuit, accompanied by his white toon gloves._

_“Welcome to V.I.L.E. Training Academy for Thieves!” He welcomed the students. “V. I. L. E. Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports! We traffic stolen goods to the four corners of the globe!”_

_He winked at the audience._

_He continued, “You’ve each been carefully selected for our one-year training program due to the extraordinary potential you’ve demonstrated! I am Coach Pete, and these are my house rules!”_

_Some of the students mumbled._

_“Rule number one: No contact with the outside world!”_

_To demonstrate it, Coach Pete pulled out a random mobile phone, and crushed so hard it with his bare hand._

_“That means no portable electronic devices allowed!”_

_The majority of the students gasped. The pieces of the broken phone fell to the ground._

_Coach Pete eyed the green parrot in the audience who was about to light up a cigar._

_“Oh, and for those that like to use black magic on a regular basis, that also means no talking to the dead!”_

_He could hear the parrot sighing in defeat._

_“Rule number two: First names only until you get assigned your codename!”_

_He eyed Lucky Rabbit and smiled._

_“Ain’t that right Bun-bun?”_

_Okay, that was embarrassing! Lucky Rabbit did NOT want to let the others know about that._

_Unfortunately for him, the duck noticed that._

_“Bun-bun?” The duck laughed, unaware of how embarrassed Lucky Rabbit was feeling right now. “Who knew V.I.L.E. had a cutesy kid mascot?”_

_The duck had a speech problem, that he knew. It was very difficult for anyone to try to understand the duck most of the time, but Lucky Rabbit was one of the few people who could understand him perfectly._

_And he was NOT happy about the duck’s rude remark._

_He violently grabbed the duck by the shoulders and yanked him backwards, the duck’s shocked eyes meeting his angry ones. For a young toon kid, Lucky Rabbit had a pretty strong grip._

_“Listen here, duck! Only Coach Pete can call me Bun-bun! My codename’s Lucky Rabbit!” he warned the duck. “Nod if you understand that!”_

_The duck nodded fearfully, not wanting to upset the younger toon any further._

Minerva, and Yakko laughed at the memory.

“You really did schooled Donald that day.” Minerva smiled. “His legendary fiery temper was NOTHING compared to the wrath of a zany 12-year old toon.”

“Well, both Madame Flamiel, and Dr. Scratchy had a very hard time trying to de-zanitize me.” Yakko replied with a smile. “I guess it’s just part of my toony nature, really.”

Minerva’s smile changed into a frown. “It seemed I still don’t know you, kid. The slick red hat, the exotic yet cartoony new name…”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Who are you, really?”

“A professional thief, just like you.” Yakko answered, still keeping that smile on his face. "Duh!"

“Yes, but you were not like the others.” Minerva elaborated. “How did you wind up in crime school?”

Yakko crossed his arms and grinned. “Well, it’s a long story, really. You probably wouldn’t be interested anyway.”

“Actually… I am.”

Minerva looked at the window, and then at Yakko. She aimed the metal rod at Yakko.

“Your clock will run out when we get to Paris. So make it count.”

If Yakko could be honest with himself, he had never told anyone his story before. But now, he had no choice but to come to terms with his past… what he knew of it.

He started at the beginning...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, aside from Minerva, the four other students that Yakko remembered most in the flashback were as followed:  
> ⭐ José Carioca  
> ⭐ Panchito Pistoles  
> ⭐ Donald Duck  
> ⭐ Newt
> 
> And Mickey Mouse's arch-enemy, Pete makes an appearance.
> 
> Up next... a look at Yakko's past.


	3. Journey to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko reminiscences his childhood, his first encounter with Pinky and the Brain, and how he came to join V.I.L.E. Academy.

“From what I’ve been told, I was found when I was four years old, too young to even recall my previous life.” Yakko began his story. “Abandoned in the Siberian forest on a cold winter’s night. I never knew how or why someone would be cruel enough to abandon me there. I guess it’s true when people say that some people aren’t meant to be parents to begin with.”

He pictured the Siberian forest covered in snow, due to the act of a cruel and unforgiving winter blizzard. A dark and stormy winter’s night. He even pictured himself being very small and weak, alone in the woods with no one to turn to for help. He would’ve frozen to death had it not been for his savior. He knew that whoever found him as a four year old in the Siberian forest was someone who worked for V.I.L.E. because instead of just dropping him off to a nearby orphanage and be done with it, they figured that it would be better if they brought him back with them to the Isle of V.I.L.E. where he was raised by the school’s faculty. It takes a village to raise a child, they say, but Yakko was raised by five teachers instead.

The Isle of V.I.L.E., as he remembered, was very beautiful. Everywhere he looked, there were white sandy beaches and palm trees. The sunlight shining on the sparkling blue ocean. He even remembered that he had used to live in a small, cozy cabin, not far from the school campus. He couldn’t have asked for a better home than the Isle of V.I.L.E.

“A beautifully-crafted Russian music box, accompanied by its key necklace, was my only belonging.” he continued, often taking a quick glance at the beautiful French landscape.

He reached for his hammerspace, and pulled out something shiny. Minerva knew immediately what it was. Resting at the palm of his hand was a beautiful golden necklace shaped like a simplified Russian flower. It had six blue oval-shaped pedals with a red circular spot at its center, and six smaller circles in-between the blue pedals. Minerva watched as Yakko began to put the necklace on.

He resumed his story whilst fiddling with his necklace. “It was the only clue I had about my past. It played the most beautiful lullaby I have ever heard in my life.”

He remembered what his music box looked like as if it was yesterday. It was a beautifully-carved round box with gold, blue, and pink Russian-styled patterns that sat on the edge of his bedroom window, along with an old world globe whose colors have been fading for a while, but he could still pinpoint which country he wanted to look for if needed to. He remembered how it would play his favorite song every time he turned the key to open his music box. He swore he heard the tune before, whether it’d be the lullaby someone dear to him would sing to him before he would fall asleep, or from an animated film done by Don Bluth that had that particular song.

“Going for the fan-favorite ' _tragic backstory '_ routine?” Minerva smirked.

“I wouldn’t say my story was all tragic.” Yakko replied, smiling. “My childhood was actually a happy one.”

He remembered how he used to play his favorite lavender ball at a nearby tropical beach every morning. He would wear his cute little sailor outfit (minus the hat of course), accompanied by the golden flower-shaped necklace that he always wore. He remembered having lots of fun as he kicked the ball across the entrance to a very large grey fortress. Sleek and modern in design, full of sharp angles and sharp edges that came together in ways other people might perceive it as threatening. It stood tall among the palm trees and the crystal-clear waters. It was no ordinary school, that he knew very well. It was a school _for thieves_.

If he was being honest here, he wished he had a much better understanding of the world when he was younger, and he also wished he hadn’t been so naïve. He would have known that there was something ominous going on with the school.

“It wasn’t exactly your typical grade school or anything, but who was I to complain about how things worked at the academy when I was the one that was homeschooled growing up?”

He remembered. Because he was four when they found him, he was too young to attend V.I.L.E. Academy, so he had to settle with being homeschooled by a huge variety of nannies for the time being. He never had the same nanny for a longer period of time, that he found it to be strange, but he never seemed to mind that. 

“Some taught me the basics, like reading, writing, and math… my least favorite subject.” he explained, cringing at the mention of the last subject. “Though most of them taught me about the diverse places they were from.”

All the nannies that were assigned to homeschool him were from different parts of the world, and he remembered how each new nanny would teach him about the country they were from. It was one of the reasons why he loved geography so much, it was, without a doubt, his favorite subject. His nannies would teach him about every single country in the world, from the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt to the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. He fondly remembered the time he sang all the countries of the world to whoever was his nanny during that time, and how they were so proud of him. 

After all these years, he remembered how the first verse of his song went.

_United States, Canada, Mexico, Pandema, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Republic Dominican, Cuba, Caribbean, Greenland, El Salvador too…_

He even learned how to speak fluently in many different languages, like Chinese Mandarin, Russian, and Japanese. His nannies even went so far as to teach him about the many different cultures of the world. 

He fondly remembered the time one of his nannies had given him a map of the world as a gift, and how they helped him hang it up above his bed. He would lie awake at night, stare at the map, and trace the continents with his finger. He had loved learning all about the many different cultures so much that he wanted to travel around the world and see them all with his own eyes. It was like going on a great, big adventure. The world was just waiting for him to get out of his little island home and just go explore it!

To be fair, he couldn’t just leave the island, and go and explore other countries on his own as a young kid because it was considered to be very dangerous. There are some people out there in the world who are very bad, and very dangerous who would not even hesitate in hurting a small child just to get what they want. He should know, considering that he was left alone to freeze to death in the Siberian forest at a very young age by a very bad adult. So until then, he would have to settle with having his own little adventures at the school campus. He remembered fondly how he would often sneak in through the main buildings and classrooms, and he would roam the halls, running around and causing all kinds of mischief whenever he could… as long as he’s not disrupting precious class time. He may be wild and zany to the max, but he does have his limits. He knew just how important education was to other people. 

“There was no note or any ID when they found me. And I couldn’t even recall my birth name at the time, so… you can pretty much guess who got their codename early.”

He had learned one important thing from another V.I.L.E. faculty member, Dr. Scatchansniff, concerning the use of codenames. Becoming a V.I.L.E. operative meant giving up your personal identity. This was done so that the authorities, or anyone who had a thing for being too nosy, wouldn’t be able to trace your name back to V.I.L.E. in the event that you would get caught. To make up for the loss of their personal identities, the students at the academy would be given their criminal codenames in due time. It was considered a rite of passage for new students. If they succeeded in becoming an operative, they would be given their codename, and it was the name they went by from that point forward.

Lucky Rabbit - that was his codename, and the _only_ name he went by growing up.

He had quickly figured out through his many little adventures that he was the _only_ child on the island. Everyone else were either adults or teenagers who are no younger than 16. That meant he would ALWAYS get away with any kind of mischief that he would cause on the island, even murder.

He smiled fondly as he looked back on one of his favorite memories.

_Every year, on December 1st, at the exact same time, this particular boat of the academy’s bookkeeper, Miss Norita would arrive. Other than the arrival of new students that would come to the island to learn how to be master thieves, this was the only time where anyone from the outside world would come to the Isle of V.I.L.E. She would come to the island once a year to deliver an electronic hard drive, and upload its contents to the computer servers in the academy. The reason for it is because V.I.L.E. don’t trust wi-fi to handle the important contents, even if it had excellent, hard-to-break-into layers of security._

_8-year old Lucky Rabbit had heard so much about Miss Norita via gossip. She was a serious, no-nonsense kind of woman who took her job as a bookkeeper very seriously, and didn’t know the meaning of the word “fun”. Rumor has it that she hated water, which made sense because she was a fashionista, always going for the latest trends in the fashion world._

_He had deemed her his “special friend”. He was going to make her trip more memorable._

_He hid behind the rocks that overlook the boat dock, a water balloon in his hands, and a pile of other water balloons at his side. He could see Miss Norita below from his hiding place. She was a stylish Latina woman. She was tall and slender with brown hair, green eyes, and a pointy nose. There was a beauty mark located on the right side of her face. For every visit, she would wear a different set of clothes, and the only accessory that remained consistent was her large, purple-framed glasses. Today, she was wearing gold earrings, a black choker, a pastel yellow collared shirt, a dark blue suit, sheer tights, and black high-heeled knee boots._

_Tying the boat to the docks was the captain of the boat, Yosemite Sam. A small fellow with a big mouth, and a matching set of red bushy eyebrows and mustache. He wore a dark green short-sleeved collared shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of cowboy boots. On his head was his giant cowboy hat that could swallow him whole due to his size._

_Yosemite Sam was too busy helping Miss Norita off the boat to notice an incoming attack from Lucky Rabbit._

_Lucky Rabbit brought his arm back and threw the first water balloon. It soared through the air and barely hit Miss Norita’s shoes. The Latina woman was splashed with water. She screamed in anger as Lucky Rabbit laughed at her misfortune. from his hiding place._

_Bullseye!_

_The second water balloon hit directly at Yosemite Sam, drenching him with water. Not the target he had in mind, but whatever. More special friends for him to mess with. Lucky Rabbit laughed even harder at the small fellow’s misery._

_However, his fun was cut short when he realized that Yosemite Sam had spotted him. He was soaking wet, and he was furious!_

_“Why you no-good, dagnabbit varmint!”_

_Uh-oh!_

_Without hesitation, Lucky Rabbit sprinted away at a fast speed with Yosemite Sam going after him. He burst into the academy complex, rounding a corner as fast as his toon legs would take him. Despite the danger he was in at the moment, he was having the time of his life. He lived for thrills like this. He led the short captain on a while chase throughout the campus. He would hear him lose his breath a couple of times due to his age - he just needed to keep going a little longer until he lost him for good._

_He was having so much fun with his little game of cat-and-mouse that he didn’t pay attention to where he was going, and the next thing he knew, his feet had slipped on a wet, freshly mopped floor. He tripped and fell down instantly. He wasn’t hurt too badly, though, just a small scrape on the knee._

_He saw Yosemite Sam slowly approaching him, a menacing look on his face._

_“Nowhere to run now, varmint!”_

_He was screwed._

_“Problem here, bub?”_

_It was Coach Pete who came to his rescue. He had witnessed the whole show, and he eyed Yosemite Sam with fury._

_Ah, Coach Pete - he was one of the five faculty members who ran V.I.L.E. Academy, known for his brute strength and tough demeanor, yet he was the one whom Lucky Rabbit felt safest to be around with. The large cat had taken a liking to the young toon, and watched over him like how he imagined a father would do. Lucky Rabbit didn’t know who saved him from a cold death in the Siberian forest, but he had always suspected that it was Coach Pete, though he didn’t question him for it. The cat had his reasons, and if he ever wanted to find the right moment to talk to him further about his past, that was his decision, and the young toon would support it. Coach Pete was always there to get him out of trouble, often referring to himself as “Papa Wolf”._

_This little mischief today was no exception._

_As Coach Pete glared at Yosemite Sam, Lucky Rabbit saw all the action. Coach Pete grabbed Yosemite Sam by the shirt, forcing him to look him in the eyes, and delivered a massive punch to his face._

_POW!_

_The small fellow with the giant cowboy hat was falling backwards with a dazed look on his face. Pete lowered his fist to his side._

_As Yosemite Sam fell, a small metal object flew out of one of his pockets. It skidded across the wet floor toward Lucky Rabbit’s feet._

_He knew exactly what this object was - a mobile phone._

_Instinctively, he reached down and picked up the phone before anyone would notice. He saw Coach Pete slowly turning to his direction, so he quickly hid the phone in his hammerspace - something all toons are required to have in order to survive in the real world. He would play around with the phone later._

_“Let’s get you some ice-cream, Bun-bun.” Coach Pete spoke to him sweetly._

_Lucky Rabbit gladly accepted the invitation._

“The day I took Yosemite Sam’s phone for myself was the day I discovered that stealing things was fun.” Yakko recalled. “It’s even more fun getting away with it.”

“And thus our little master thief was born,” Minerva replied with a grin.

Yakko nodded, and continued. “Ever since that day, I slowly, but surely began to teach myself in the arts of thievery so that one day, I would be good enough to be enrolled at V.I.L.E. Academy, be the best master thief the school has ever seen, or will see, and then I would _finally_ be able to leave the island and travel around the world without having to worry about any bad adult wanting to hurt me.”

“And Yosemite Sam’s phone?” Minerva asked curiously. “What did you do with it all those years?”

Yakko shrugged. “Eh… I played around with it when no one’s looking while simultaneously trying to figure out how to use it.”

He smiled and leaned forward.

”If I wanted to go see the world, I would need to know how to use a phone, and I’ll tell you this - it’s tough learning how to use a phone on your own in secret, considering the 'No Cellphone' policy on the island.”

And then he remembered that one particular day - the day that changed his life forever. It all began with a phone call...

_One rainy afternoon at the Isle of V.I.L.E., 12-year old Lucky Rabbit was sitting in his room, reading a Geography book for what seemed like the 99th time in his life when he heard a vibrating noise, and it was coming from behind him. His eyes went wide in fear, and he remembered - he had hidden the phone in his hammerspace!_

_Cautiously, he summoned the phone from his hammerspace, and looked at the phone’s screen._

_An image of a white fedora, glowing as the phone vibrated._

_And then, a text message appeared on the screen._

_“Do a better job at beefing up your security, foolish cowboy…” he read aloud - that’s Yosemite Sam’s phone alright. “We got in.”_

**_Where? Here?_ ** _He messaged back._

_… and then the phone rang._

_The loud ringtone had startled Lucky Rabbit for a moment. He took a deep breath, and answered the phone._

_“Hello?”_

_“Hello.” came the voice from the other end of the phone. He sounded calm, sophisticated, and much older than him. Who is he?_

_“To whom I have the pleasure of speaking to during this time of day?” he asked, beating Lucky Rabbit to the question._

_“Lucky Rabbit,” the young toon answered in a matter-of-fact tone._

_“Gee, Brain, I thought we were calling for Yosemite Sam, not one of Bugs Bunny’s relatives!” came another voice from the other end of the phone. This one was high-pitched with a Cockney accent, and it sounded somewhat childish compared to the sophistication of the other voice known as Brain._

_“Quiet, Pinky!” Brain’s voice yelled._

_“Uhhhhh… Yosemite Sam is currently married to his shiny new phone of four years, but has had secret dates with some random boat engine he found at the docks since last year.” Lucky Rabbit answered quickly._

_Goodnight, everybody!_

_“You’re talking to the new owner of the phone here, pal.”_

_“I see…” Brain’s voice responded, he sounded curious._

_“What’s your real name?” Pinky’s voice cried out with such excitement._

_“Pinky!”_

_How can he answer that question? The only name he knew was Lucky Rabbit._

_“I don’t really know my real name.” he answered again. “Sorry.”_

_Brain’s voice chuckled. “That’s quite alright, Lucky Rabbit. It’ll have to do for now. You can call me the Brain.”_

_“And I’m Pinky!” Pinky’s voice interjected. “Narf!”_

_“Nice to meet you, Pinky.” Lucky Rabbit replied. “So what do you guys do?”_

_“Pinky and I are white-hat hackers,” Brain explained - he sounded so proud of this fact. “Though I’m usually the one that does the most hacking here. Pinky’s more of my… assistant.”_

_“White-hat hackers?” Lucky Rabbit asked in confusion._

_“It means that we have an extraordinary gift to hack into every single electronic device around the world, and we have yet to come across one we can’t hack.” Brain continued. “As you may have noticed prior to this call, we have successfully hacked through 27 layers of encryption just to get through to you.”_

_“But we use our hacking skills for good!” Pinky added. “Brain once told me how he was going to use his hacking skills to try to make the world a better place should he one day succeed in taking over the world!”_

_“What Pinky had said.” Brain spoke. “So, who should I talk to about this weak link in your security?”_

_“Where are you guys calling from?” Lucky Rabbit asked, curiously._

_“The mouse cage that Pinky and I are sharing together in one of the many lab rooms in Acme Labs in Burbank.” Brain answered._

_He couldn’t believe it! Two laboratory mice from California have managed to hack into V.I.L.E.’s tough security! He also couldn’t believe that he was talking to someone outside of the island. His mind raced with excitement. "_ _You guys are from California? That’s amazing! What’s it like there? Is Hollywood finally making a Wonder Woman movie?”_

_“I must say that you really know your geography.” Brain responded, surprised by Lucky Rabbit’s interest._

_“Well, it IS my favorite subject after all.”_

_“Interesting.” Brain replied. “And to answer your questions, Lucky Rabbit; yes, we are from California, it’s alright for now… despite the constant earthquakes happening every few months, and no, Hollywood has yet to make a Wonder Woman movie, though I strongly believe that it will happen one day in a couple of years or so.”_

_“What about you, Lucky Rabbit?” Pinky asked. “Where in the world are you?”_

_Lucky Rabbit blinked. How can he answer THAT question? He knew he lived in the Isle of V.I.L.E., but he didn’t exactly know WHERE the island was located. He never bothered asking anyone about it - it didn’t have that much importance to him back then._

_“School.” he replied with a shrug._

_“I see…” Brain spoke, not fully convinced with his answer - judging by the tone of his voice. “What kind of school would have 27 layers of encryption?”_

_“Hey, it’s a private school.”_

_A pause._

_“As much as I love to stay and chat with you some more, Lucky Rabbit, I’m afraid we have a prior engagement on our hands tonight.” Brain spoke._

_“You guys are getting married?” Lucky Rabbit asked._

_“No, not the kind of engagement I was talking about.” Brain replied, a deadpanned look written on his face. Then he diverted his attention to Pinky, “Come, Pinky! We must make plans for tonight!”_

_“Gee, Brain! What are gonna do tonight?” Pinky asked._

_“The same thing we do every night, Pinky,” Brain boasted. Lucky Rabbit swore he heard thunder from the mice’s end. “Try to take over the world!”_

_They’re dinky! They’re Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain! Brain!_

“That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Pinky and the Brain.” Yakko explained. “Ever since that day, I would sneak away into a hiding spot, and talk to them. I wanted to know more about the outside world.”

“That would explain your constant disappearing acts.” Minerva pointed out. “Not that I blame you though.”

He grinned. 

“Did you ever get caught, though?” she asked.

“Not until much later in the story.” Yakko answered.

“Are you gonna get to the part where you finally join the academy despite not being 16?” Minerva complained. “It seemed like you’re just padding in the story so that the author could make this chapter longer than it really needed to be.” 

Yakko chuckled. “Skipping ahead to get to the good parts? No worries. I was just about to get to that.”

He remembered how year after year, he would see 40 thieves graduating from V.I.L.E. Academy, and he couldn’t help but feel jealous. They would go out into the unknown world in small groups and pull off their first capers, They would get to steal priceless artifacts from the four corners of the world, and even get to run into old, forgotten tombs filled with deadly traps, like in the storybooks he used to read when he was little.

“I wanted so badly to get out of the island, and _be_ one of those thieves!” he explained, feeling exasperated. “That first call with Pinky and the Brain was the push I needed, and it was about time I stated my case to the only family I knew…”

_12-year old Lucky Rabbit’s heart was racing as he walked down the long, dark hallway to the faculty lounge, seeking an audience with the faculty members. He had his reasons as to why he was feeling nervous - V.I.L.E.’s faculty lounge was one of the most frightening places at the academy. This was where the faculty members would come together to plan their dastardly criminal operations._

_He pushed open the grand doors, entering the large, ominous room. The sound of his footsteps echoed loudly as he approached toward the front of the long table where each of the five faculty members were seated behind it, eying the young toon._

_In addition to Coach Pete, the four other members of the faculty who ran V.I.L.E. had their own areas of expertise._

_First, there was Madame Flamiel - an older, slightly overweight woman with a pointy nose, and brown hair tied into a neat bun. She wore a traditional nurse’s outfit - very reminiscent of the one Nurse Ratched wore from the film adaption of the classic novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, with two pairs of glasses - one on her face, and one worn around her neck. She was very strict who had little to zero tolerance on anything, and was such a stickler for the rules. And yet, she was best known for her specialty in psychiatry - well known for her chaotic, unpredictable capers, and her love of playing mind tricks on her students. Even when she made an attempt to be funny, there was this eerie sense of darkness about her that was well hidden inside her._

_Next, was Baron Thaddeus Von Plotz - a short, middle-aged man with an even short temper who hailed from a faraway country known as Warnerstock. He wore an outfit reminiscent of the one Napoleon Bonaparte would wear during his reign as Emperor of France in the 19th century. Rumor has it that before he came to V.I.L.E., Baron Plotz was once a greedy tax collector who would rob the citizens of their hard-earned money just so he would keep them all to himself (rob the poor to feed the rich, he would say), but the king and queen of Warnerstock during that time had put an end to it, and they had the disgraced tax collector exiled. He was well known for having his eyes on the most sophisticated side of crime, like art forgeries and jewel thefts. Lucky Rabbit wouldn’t say it out loud, but he could tell that Plotz doesn’t like him at all due to his zany nature, and has desperately wanted to tame him._

_Then, there was Dr. Scratchansniff… or Dr. Scratchy just to make things simpler for most people - a tall, middle-aged man with a very rail-thin frame, a long pointy nose, pointy chin, and a very bald head. He wore a white lab coat, purple pants, black shoes, and thick glasses. A brilliant scientist from Austria with the ability to create powerful gadgets to help aid V.I.L.E. operatives on their many heists. Similar to Madame Flamiel, Dr. Scratchy did specialize in psychiatry, albeit to a lesser extent. Inventing was his passion - he had the ability to create anything, from mind-control devices to robots. Lucky Rabbit liked to mess with the doctor on several occasions, but not to the extent of actually upsetting him, and much like Baron Plotz, Dr. Scratchy had expressed a desire to tame the young toon one day._

_Finally, there was Slappy-san… whom Lucky Rabbit considered to be his favorite of the faculty members other than Coach Pete. She was an elderly anthropomorphic squirrel with gray fur, grayish-blue eyes, and always wearing purple eyeliner on her eyelids. She wore a pink and green Japanese kimono, and her usual green bowler hat decorated with a drooping yellow flower on it. A rather grouchy, no-nonsense toon ninja from Japan, Slappy-san specialized in two areas - stealth and toon comedy, hence why she was the only faculty member to teach two classes, Stealth 101 and Toon Physics. Despite her no-nonsense attitude, Lucky Rabbit had respected her so much that he refrain from causing any sort of mischief whenever the squirrel’s around._

_Madame Flamiel was looking at Lucky Rabbit up and down, she had a serious, unimpressed look to her._

_“Lucky Rabbit, why have you requested our audience?” she asked._

_He’d be lying if he had told anyone that he wasn’t afraid, but he was. He just tried his hardest to not show it. He needed to appear confident._

_“I’m ready to enroll.” he said, trying to sound confident. Madame Flamiel raised an eyebrow._

_Lucky Rabbit continued, “I know that technically, I’m way too young for this, and should’ve waited for another four years where I’d be 16 by that point, Madame Flamiel, but I think I have what it takes to be a great thief… the best ever!”_

_He gulped as he remembered his place. He gave Madame Flamiel a sheepish smile, and added, “Uhhhhhh… in my humble opinion, ma’am.”_

_Thad did it. He screwed it up. He can see it all - the faculty members rejecting his case, and he would have to wait for four more years to be given a chance to become a V.I.L.E. operative._

_But, he heard Dr. Scratchy spoke, “Lucky Rabbit may be young, ja, but he has had more training at his age zen any other recruit, even if only by being around ze academy for so long.”_

_“Ol’ Scratchy’s right.” Coach Pete agreed, smiling at Lucky Rabbit. “The little rabbit’s got spunk. I’d say he’s ready to run with the big dogs.”_

_So far, two of them seemed to be on Lucky Rabbit’s side._

_But Baron Plotz leaned in his seat, looking unconvinced._

_“Well I, for one, am not too thrilled with the idea of having to deal with Lucky Rabbit’s… chaotic nature, combined with his lack of manners in a classroom setting.” Plotz spoke. “This… thing is feral.”_

_Lucky Rabbit should’ve known that the short-tempered baron obsessed with order would bring up his mischievous behavior._

_“Which is why he might be overdue for properly supervised training, Baron Plotz,” Madame Flamiel countered._

_“Ja, but studies have shown zat toon V.I.L.E. operatives who are chaotic and unpredictable have pulled off more successful capers in ze recent years, zan zose who aren’t.” Dr. Scratchy argued._

_“Y'all can thank our toon lineage for that one, doc!” Slappy-san interjected, seating at the far end of the table with an unamused look on her face. She appeared to be busy trying to complete a very difficult puzzle from a sudoku book. “And one amazing toon teacher to boot!”_

_“You have something to add, Slappy-san?” Madame Flamiel asked the squirrel._

_The old squirrel put the sudoku book down, and turned to look at Lucky Rabbit intensely. He knew that Slappy-san would be the hardest to convince._

_After seconds of silence, Slappy-san said, “I’m gonna be real honest with ya, kid. In all my years as a V.I.L.E. faculty member, I have never seen a recruit that had this kind of potential like yours, nor the immense level of toon powers that you’ve possessed. Ya definitely got what it takes to be the best toon thief that V.I.L.E. has ever seen, even better than an ol’ toon master like me, no doubt about that.”_

_Lucky Rabbit smiled at Slappy-san who smiled back._

_“But...” Slappy-san continued, the smile replaced with a stern expression. “With all that being said, ya have to remember that this is a vocational school for thieves, not your typical middle school that ya often see on TV. Ya ain’t quite ready yet.”_

_Lucky Rabbit frowned, staring down at his feet as Slappy-san’s words hung heavy in the air. He fiddled with his necklace nervously._

_“Vith all due respect, Slappy-san, but we’ve never met a case for advanced placement until now.” Dr. Scratchy said. Lucky Rabbit looked back up and smiled at the old doctor._

_“And the last time I checked, majority vote rules.” Coach Pete told the squirrel._

_“Skip the voting! I know how it’s gonna end!” Slappy-san yelled at Coach Pete before pulling out the script from her hammerspace. “It said so in the script.”_

_She leaned forward, towering over Lucky Rabbit from her position behind the table._

_“Listen up, and listen carefully because I’m only gonna say this once.” Slappy-San told him. “Being a professional thief ain’t like some certain video game series where ya can just jump and press the circle button. It’s a big job that would require years of hard work and discipline.”_   
  


_“I want this more than anything in the world, Instructor Slappy-san.” Lucky Rabbit told her. This time, he didn’t have to pretend to be confident. "Really!"_

_“Ya sure this is what you really wanted, kid?” Slappy-san asked him. “Because once ya choose this path, that’s it! That’s the hill ya gonna die on! No turning back!”_

_Lucky Rabbit was now feeling unsure about this. Is this what he really wanted?_

_Heck yeah! He’s gonna be the greatest thief the world has ever seen!_

_“This is the hill I want to die on.” He told Slappy-san confidently. “I want to become a thief!”_

_“Is that your final answer?”_

_He grinned. “Yes. Final answer.”_

_Slappy-san sighed, getting up from her seat. “Didn’t say I warned ya.”_

_And then she retreated to the dark shadows, never to be seen again for the rest of the night._

“From that moment on,” Yakko concluded the memory. “I was taking on a life of crime."

He leaned back and watched the French countryside passing by, a smile on his face.

"And class was about to begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the thing with Yakko having a Russian music box accompanied by the key necklace was pretty much inspired by Sokkas_First_Fangirl's fanfic "Once Upon A December" which was an Anastasia AU starring the Animaniacs cast (I advise you to go check that out if ya haven't already, it is an amazing fanfic!)
> 
> This chapter went much longer than it needed to be, but I guess it holds up alright.
> 
> Up next... Yakko's first day at the academy, and the return of Porky and Daffy.


	4. The Good Ol' Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Porky contemplates his relationship with Daffy, Yakko and Minerva reminiscence the good ol' days at V.I.L.E. Academy.

Porky couldn’t help but realize that he had made a big mistake - he should’ve taken the stairs instead of the old 19th century elevator that he was currently stuck in right now at such a slow pace.

When he had arrived at the chateau to investigate and look for evidence, he had hastily taken the old elevator without giving it a second though, and much like his arrogant partner from earlier, he had failed to take into account that the old elevator from the 19th century was not as fast as the elevators of today.

Taking the stairs sure would’ve saved him a lot of time just to get to the scene of the crime, despite the massive number of steps he would have to climb on.

His mind went back to his partner, Daffy. Between the two, Porky was considered the smarter one, not that he would brag about it to anyone. He was a modest and humble pig after all - that was just who he was. He took the time to learn all about the rules and regulations an agent was supposed to follow once they joined Interpol. He had wanted to be a good and honest member of law enforcement who would follow all the rules and lead a good example for everyone else, not like the ones who only joined law enforcement purely for selfish reasons… like Daffy somewhat.

Daffy was a FAR cry from your standard crooked cop that you’d hear everyday via social media, but he knew that the duck was NOT a picture-perfect model cop like in the storybooks that he read as a young child. So far, the duck had dismissed his vast knowledge in history as dull and boring facts, ignored his attempts to get him to pay attention during the case because he wouldn’t stop bragging about himself, refused to call for backup when they had spotted Yakko Sandiego and instead had the dumb idea to try to catch the young thief in red all by himself, total’d his car (that broke his fall from the roof) to the point where it was considered unsafe for driving YET HE DROVE IT LIKE NOTHING HAD HAPPENED, and he had the NERVE to encourage the pig to go steal some evidence just to make quick money - worst thing about that last part is that he never specified as to WHY he needed the money in the first place.

He was a pain in the butt, but he was HIS pain in the butt because at the end of the day, Daffy was his best friend since childhood. He was also his ONLY friend. His phone rang, and Porky checked the caller ID - speak of the devil! He answered, “Daffy! G-g-good news, I hope?”

“ _Porky, ol’ buddy!"_ Daffy’s voice cried from the other end. He heard the duck's aggressive driving, and the clinging of the damaged front hood. “ _You’re the only smart person I can think of right now, so… could you like… help me out here?”_

“W-what happened?” Porky grew concerned. “A-are you in t-t-trouble?”

_“No, but I really need your help with something here!"_ Daffy responded. _“Is it possible for a car to catch a moving train? While driving aggressively at top speed?”_

He swore he heard the front hood violently being flown off of what he had dubbed 'The Automobile of Death' due to the duck’s aggressive speeding. 

_“On the verge of falling apart at any given moment?”_

And did he just hear him making an attempt to drive ON the railroad tracks just now? He swore he heard one of the railroad workers cursing at the duck in anger, and the screams of terrified bystanders.

_“And on the railroad tracks, of course? It’s more awesome that way!”_

He frowned. Reckless driving - he’s adding that to the list of things you should NEVER do when you’re a cop. He answered, “I’m n-not really g-good at m-m-math here, b-but I supposed it d-depends upon how many stops t-t-the train m-makes, and for h-how long at each.”

He swore he heard a maniacal laughter coming from Daffy. 

“ _Perfect! Then I shall catch this legendary boy thief in red after all! Save some of the good stuff for me!”_

Daffy had hung up on him in a quick haste, leaving him alone in a slow elevator with only his thoughts to accompany him. He should’ve taken the stairs. 

The universe must’ve decided to take pity on him because shortly after that phone call, the old elevator had suddenly decided to stop on the first floor. He didn’t question the sudden stop - rather he took his chance to take the stairs without hesitation. At least he would get some exercise. After being forced to wait in the car earlier, he desperately needed to stretch his legs.

And while he’s at it, why not call for some backup to help investigate the scene of the crime?

* * *

“So you have become one of the big kids; one of the 40 thieves.” Minerva spoke to Yakko, keeping a firm grip on her metal rod. “Please feel free to skip ahead. I was there too.”

“Hey, who’s telling the story here?” Yakko pretended to be offended by Minerva’s words, but knew that she was technically right - she was there during his time at V.I.L.E. Academy.

And yet, how could he forget one particular memory where not only did he meet Minerva for the first time, but also four of his roommates who would be his close friends?

_Lucky Rabbit was just nearly finished unpacking his stuff at the bland-looking student dormitory when he saw his roommates, and future partners-in-crime, for the first time._

_“Hello, I’m Lucky Rabbit, and I’ll be your roommate for the school year.” He introduced himself._

_Unsurprisingly, he knew five of them who were at orientation earlier._

_The Brazilian parrot shook his hand with a friendly smile. “Hello. I’m José, or Zé if you like.”_

_The Mexican rooster seemed a little too excited to meet him because he found himself stuck at the mercy of the rooster’s bear-crushing hug - the color on his face almost slipping away. “Hola, amigo! I’m Panchito!”_

_“N-nice… to meet… ya.” Lucky Rabbit wheezed. Panchito gave him an apologetic look as he released him from his grip._

_The duck eyed him suspiciously before shaking his hand. “I’m Donald. Sorry for the whole 'Bun-bun' thing earlier.”_

_“It’s cool.” Lucky Rabbit replied._

_The dachshund gave him a disdainful look. The first day of school hasn’t even started, and already he was making enemies - he managed to do that with absolutely NO effort on his part. “Newt.”_

_And then… she walked into the dormitory; the young, sexy blonde mink. “Minerva.”_

_“HELLO NURSE!!!” All the male students in the room cried out upon seeing the beautiful mink for the first time, and then made fools out of themselves._

_Minerva playfully sighed. “Boys… go fig.”_

_“At least we got some entertainment here.” Lucky Rabbit replied to Minerva with a smirk on his face._

_Minerva took notice of Lucky Rabbit’s gold necklace. “Nice necklace you got there.”_

_“Thanks.”_

_“Aww, is this where you hide your jacks and marbles, little boy?” He heard Newt’s taunting voice behind him._

_No!_

_That rude dachshund had his greedy eyes set on his music box that was currently resting on his nightstand._

_“Please don’t touch my stuff.” Lucky Rabbit firmly warned the dachshund._

_“What?” Newt eyed the music box again, this time he had an obnoxious smirk on his face. His fingers were just inches away from touching the music box. “Your dead grandmother’s jewelry box?”_

_He was about to grab Lucky Rabbit’s music box, probably just to get a closer look or keep it to himself, but Donald quickly slapped the dachshund’s hand away. Lucky Rabbit was quick to grab his music box, and held it tight to his chest._

_Newt growled at Donald who only gave him a stern look. The duck warned him, “You heard Lucky Rabbit! Don’t touch his stuff!”_

_“Besides, play nice, Newt.” Minerva intervened. “We all have to room together.”_

_Both Donald, and Minerva winked at Lucky Rabbit who smiled at them in gratitude._

_Newt let out a “hmph” as he held his nose up high, and walked out of the dormitory. He muttered in a low voice, “I’m only doing this because the pretty mink said so.”_

_Lucky Rabbit took note of what Newt had said, and quickly looked at Minerva as he finished unpacking the rest of his stuff. Who knew a pretty girl like Minerva would have so much influence on other people?_

_\--------_

_A half-hour had passed, and almost everyone in the dormitory was done unpacking their stuff. A majority of Lucky Rabbit’s roommates have left to go to their classes. Lucky Rabbit looked at his surroundings, and noticed that he, Donald, and Minerva were the only ones left in the room. He had finished unpacking his stuff, same with Donald, but Minerva, for some reason, didn’t come CLOSE to being done - she had pulled FIVE suitcases full of clothes from her hammerspace, and only TWO of those suitcases were emptied out and stored in her student trunk that was located in front of her dorm bed. She seemed to be having trouble trying to fit the clothes from her third suitcase into her student trunk, as it was almost full._

_“_

_Y’know, you really shouldn’t be packing so much clothes when it’s made very clear that we’ll only be wearing our school uniforms for the majority of the school year, as well as our stealth suits once we get our codenames.” Donald spoke._

_“Well, a girl’s best friend is her fashionable clothes.” Minerva argued. “It’s hard to separate the two these days.”_

_“Yeah, but you’re a toon like us, and some of the others.” Lucky Rabbit countered. “The hammerspace is pretty much your closet dimension, so I don’t see why you felt the need to try to cram five suitcases full of clothes into one small trunk.”_

_Minerva gave it a thought. “Well, if you put it that way…”_

_She quickly grabbed all of her clothes from her student trunk, and all five of her suitcases, and stored them into her hammerspace._

_“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the many advantages of being a toon.” Lucky Rabbit informed the readers before turning his attention back to Minerva and Donald - the three of them are now leaving the dormitory. “Since we’ve got time to kill before heading to Stealth 101, uhhhhh… what’s the story with you two?”_

_Minerva smiled, and answered, “I was working as a junior electrician at the Sydney Opera House.”_

_“That’s in Australia, right?” Lucky Rabbit asked._

_Minerva seemed impressed. “My, you certainly do know your geography.”_

_Lucky Rabbit smiled proudly and answered in a matter-of-fact tone, “Well, it’s my most favorite subject. I just love learning about the world. What’s your favorite subject?”_

_“I may be a fashionista, but I’ve always loved science.” Minerva answered. “It’s one the reasons why I was studying to become an electrician in the first place.”_

_“Mine’s music.” Donald answered as well. “It’s my passion and the only means of escaping from my family problems.”_

_“Parents don’t love you, eh?” Lucky Rabbit asked sadly._

_Donald sighed. “It’s... complicated.”_

_“What’s your least favorite subject?” Minerva asked Lucky Rabbit curiously, quickly changing the subject._

_Lucky Rabbit cringed and flatly answered, “Math. I swear it had a vendetta against me or something.”_

_“I don’t blame you.” Minerva replied. “A lot of people hate math.”_

_Lucky Rabbit smiled. Aside from her obvious beauty, he liked Minerva. She was fun to be with. Same with Donald... when he's not being grumpy and moody most of the time._

_“Back to my story,” Minerva continued. “So one day, a light bulb went off, figuratively speaking, and I thought ‘Hey! Why not make a far better living by turning OUT the lights, and stealing from the cover of darkness?’”_

_“_ _Cool.”_

_Minerva then asked, “What about you, kiddo? What’s your story?”_

_Crap! How is he gonna get out of answering that question? Think fast, Lucky Rabbit! His eyes are immediately locked on to the clock on the wall._

_Perfect!_

_“Uhhh… we better get going.” He quickly changed the subject. “Don’t wanna be late for Stealth 101.”_

_Thankfully, Minerva and Donald bought it._

“School year was great, and we’ve learned the ways of becoming a master thief.” Yakko continued looking at the French scenery passing by. “And some things about us that we didn’t know about before.”

“Like how Donald suddenly became very good at origami during Slappy-san’s origami sessions?” Minerva piped up.

Oh boy! He remembered how Slappy-san’s origami sessions went in the first few weeks, and to the surprise of everyone at V.I.L.E. Academy, Donald, of all people, ended up becoming _exceedingly_ good at origami. From what he knew, Slappy-san’s origami sessions were to help teach future thieves on how to perfect their pickpocketing skills without alerting their targets, and yet it ended up helping the duck deal with his anger issues in a calm and healthy way. 

“Exactly!” Yakko cried, a surprised look on his face. “Who knew that Slappy-san’s origami sessions would help him with his anger issues?”

“I heard origami is one of the many techniques used to help people deal with their anger issues in a healthy way.” Minerva replied.

“Self-Defense, and Toon Physics were the best classes in my opinion.” Yakko changed the subject. “We definitely had fun beating each other up during sparring sessions.”

Sparring sessions were always fun in Self-Defense and Toon Physics. How could he forget one important rule from Coach Pete - a V.I.L.E. operative must protect their face at all times, or else risk getting knocked out cold during a caper. He also remembered how the toon students in Self-Defense, mostly Donald, had to learn not to use their toon powers when sparring against human students since they have lower pain tolerance than them, and can easily get killed by something like a hard whack in the head from a mallet or having an anvil drop on them. If they want to use their powers during sparring lessons, they have to do it at Toon Physics which, aside from teaching the students the basics of being a toon (and incorporating that to their thieving skills), was pretty much Self-Defense for toon students only.

“Remember our first pop quiz in Fine Forgery Arts?” Minerva asked, taking a quick look at her nails.

“Yeah, Baron Plotz had brought in two 17th-century Ticktockian vases that looked very identical to each other, and he wanted us to figure out which vase should we steal.” Yakko answered happily. “If I remember correctly, one was a fake - pretty much the kind you’d find at tacky museum gift shops with a discounted price, and the other was a genuine that’s worth $800,000.”

The Ticktockian vase quiz - a pretty difficult quiz to pass in Fine Forgery Arts, but some have managed to get the right answer just fine - even Yakko and Minerva passed the quiz. It was no surprise that Newt would pass thanks to his upbringing of being born in a family of German hunting dogs, but no one had expected José to also pass the quiz very easily. Almost everyone knew that José dabbled in black magic growing up, so it was natural for most students and faculty members to believe that he had used his powers to find the genuine vase - it technically wasn’t considered cheating. It turned out that he actually didn’t use black magic at all - the parrot just had VERY good eyes.

Yakko eyed Minerva’s metal rod, still in the mink’s firm grip. He asked, “Remember all the cool inventions Dr. Scratchy had in Wicked Science 101?”

“How could I not remember that?” Minerva replied as she gave the metal rod a few gentle strokes, smiling. “One of his inventions, the Crackle Rod, was a huge inspiration for my codename - Crackletta.”

Yakko could see Minerva still keeping a firm grip on her Crackle Rod. He added, “Originally, you wanted to call yourself Countess Crackula, but a lot of us agreed that having puns for codenames would make it kinda difficult for us to be taken seriously as professional criminals. Plus you didn’t exactly have that vampire motif needed to make the codename work.”

“Sparkling vampires aren’t really my style, but at least Countess Crackula sounded more like a codename compared to... Baloney.” Minerva replied, making a gagging sound. “Like ew! What kind of thief would be dumb enough to call themselves Baloney?”

Yakko shuddered at the mention of that codename. “How about the guy dressed up like the poor man’s Barney the Dinosaur? Panchito once told me that he thought that Baloney was originally gonna go to some school for furries, or was it some secret Barney fan convention that no one knew about? I don’t quite remember what it was, but apparently, he ended up coming to V.I.L.E. Academy instead.”

“To be fair, Barney the Dinosaur was pretty much dumb.”

“Agreed.”

He’d have to make a mental note to rid the world of Barney the Dinosaur for the sake of the innocent children, and their neglectful parents who believed that television is a good babysitter for their children, once the whole situation with Minerva is over.

“Hey, remember Madame Flamiel’s bait-and-switch demonstration?” Minerva asked.

“Yeah, Donald and Newt were following her instructions on how to properly execute it.” Yakko replied, laughing at the memory like there’s no tomorrow with Minerva joining in. “The look on Newt’s face was priceless when he found out that his briefcase was full of bugs!”

He calmed himself down. “I swear Newt had a knack for making enemies without putting in any effort. He may have hated me since day one, but apparently, he hated Donald even more, and that was before the incident at Tricks of the Trade 101.”

Minerva finally calmed herself down, and took a quick glance at the window - they’re almost at the half-way point of their train ride.

“As much as I love to look back at the good ol’ days at V.I.L.E. Academy,” She warned Yakko. “Let’s cut to the chase and get to the important part.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that one.” Yakko looked at the script that he had pulled from his hammerspace. He proceeded to the throw away the script to… somewhere I guess. It’s a toon thing. Don’t try to question it.

“Okay, I will tell you the event that sparked the birth of Yakko Sandiego once and for all, and don’t worry, this one’s important.” Yakko spoke confidently. 

“You might have to save it for the next chapter, kid.” Minerva advised him. “This chapter’s getting too long already.”

Yakko couldn’t help but agree with Minerva on that one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a stubborn one, refusing to be completed in a way I wanted it to work, hence why it took me several days to complete it. Originally, it was gonna be longer, but I've decided to save that for the next chapter. 
> 
> So yeah, Minerva's codename is Crackletta. Originally it's either Electra or Countess Crackula, but for some reason, they don't seem to work well, no matter how hard I tried to make either one of them work. And to those wondering, yes, Baloney the Dinosaur is standing in for Mime Bomb in this AU, despite the fact that Animaniacs ALREADY had a mime character to work with - the Mime. Sure, the Mime could work flawlessly as Mime Bomb, but Baloney the Dinosaur as Mime Bomb is funnier.
> 
> Up next... the birth of Yakko Sandiego


	5. The Eye of Vishnu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko finally tells Minerva the event that sparked the birth of Yakko Sandiego.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this one's a lot longer than the previous chapter with the word count being almost 10k. Probably worth it.
> 
> EDIT (02-14-2021): Just realized that I forgot to factor in the fact that Slappy-san teaches TWO classes instead of one, so I fixed the number of exams Yakko passed from four to five.

“So the school year came and went.” Yakko began. “I couldn’t wait to graduate and plot our first caper as V.I.L.E. operatives.” 

He fiddled with his necklace. “I’ve already managed to ace the first five exams; all I needed to do is pass Slappy-san’s exam...”

_~Stealth 101~_

_Lucky Rabbit and his friends entered Slappy-san’s classroom for their final exam. It was renovated to the style of a traditional Japanese tatami room, and the lighting in the room was dimly lit with the colors of fire thanks to the twilight scenery of the island, located at the front of the room with large shōji doors opened wide and spread across to let the sunset illuminate the room._

_The students took their seats on the floor; soft, velvet floor cushions provided for their comfort. Some students were complaining about Baloney’s long tail being in the way as the latter looked for his seat. Slappy-san wasn’t here yet, so they did some origami activities to pass the time._

_Some were nervous, and some were confident and full of themselves, thinking that they could pass Slappy-san’s exam with little to no problem. Lucky Rabbit rolled his eyes._

_Lucky Rabbit had worn a dark green turtleneck jumpsuit, complete with a neon green utility belt, and a pair of dark green fingerless gloves. He still wore his golden necklace, albeit safely tucked away inside the turtleneck. Sitting next to him was Crackletta. She wore a skin-tight purple and yellow catsuit with her cleavage being shown. She still wore her hair in a high ponytail, though today she added a purple headband into the mix._

_Lucky Rabbit had just finished making an origami rabbit when Slappy-san entered the classroom. The students stopped making origami, and proceeded to listen to what their teacher has to say regarding the exam._

_“Alright, for the first exam, I call upon… Bloodhound!” Slappy-san announced._

_Bloodhound - Newt’s codename._

_Lucky Rabbit took a good look at Bloodhound who was seated next to Crackletta. Bloodhound was wearing a traditional British-style hunting outfit, the kind that wealthy English gentlemen would wear when playing a game of hunt with their equally wealthy friends. Probably not the kind of outfit a professional thief would wear (especially if you’re planning to actively steal something but have to be quick on your feet unless you want to get caught by the cops), but he did come from a family of German hunting dogs, plus Baron Plotz did mention that the best way to steal something without getting caught is to blend in with the crowd, preferably one from the upper class._

_“I got this, Short Fuse.” Bloodhound said haughtily as he looked at his favorite duck with a smirk, holding an origami duck in his hand._

_Short Fuse - Donald’s codename._

_Short Fuse, unlike Bloodhound, wore the common cat burglar outfit, albeit with a few personal tweaks here and there, and minus the pants; a midnight-blue and black long-sleeved shirt with a bomb graphic design at the center, a black sailor’s hat with both midnight-blue tassel and brim, a bandit’s mask, and a pair of black toon gloves. He was seated in front of Lucky Rabbit._

_Lucky Rabbit then saw Bloodhound dropping the origami duck to the floor, and stomping it with his boot. Short Fuse fumed with anger; his eyes sent daggers at Bloodhound’s direction, but the dachshund didn’t care to notice his anger. Bloodhound even failed to notice Short Fuse angrily making two origami - an angry duck flipping the bird at a cowering dog._

_“Short Fuse, this is a family-friendly fanfic.” Slappy-san warned the angry duck. “Keep the bird to yourself.”_

_Lucky Rabbit blew a kiss. “Goodnight, everybody!”_

_Bloodhound walked up to Slappy-san who was putting on a smoky topaz trench coat, and bowed to her with respect._

_“Somewhere in my coat, I’ve got one ha’penny.” Slappy-san explained the rules of her exam. She gave each of her students a long look, though it seemed that she was staring at Lucky Rabbit far longer than the others. “This coat I’m wearing here has many pockets, so what I want ya to do is locate the ha’penny, and steal it from me… if ya can.”_

_She turned to the other students. “To any toon students in here, you’re more than welcome to use your toon powers for the exam, if ya like.”_

_The majority of the toon students cheered while Slappy-san turned her attention back to Bloodhound, and pulled out a timer from her hammerspace, starting the clock. “Ya got two minutes. GO!”_

_Bloodhound closed his eyes, and let his sense of smell do the work for him. He sniffed a couple of times._

_That ha’penny is as good as his!_

_He rushed toward Slappy-san, hands stretched forward like a raging predator making the first pounce at his prey, but the old squirrel simply blocked his attack with an unimpressed look written all over her face. She counterattacked by whacking him with a wooden mallet, sending him flying into a Japanese Zen garden by the wall. He saw stars circling around his head._

_“Ya gonna have to do better than that, dog!” Slappy-san taunted the dachshund. “I can do this all day!”_

_When he came round, Bloodhound got up to his feet, and rushed toward Slappy-san again who simply took a step to her left and stretched out her foot, causing the dachshund to trip and fall onto the floor with a THUD! The sight of Bloodhound on the floor was enough to make Short Fuse laugh uncontrollably for a few moments before a disappointed glare from the old squirrel made him calm down a little._

_Bloodhound then decided to put his toon powers to good use. Reaching for his hammerspace, Bloodhound grabbed a handful of blinding powder, and threw them directly into Slappy-san’s face, temporarily blinding her for a moment. Now’s his chance! With Slappy-san distracted, Bloodhound made his move. He rushed toward her for the third time, and ripped off a part of her coat. He sniffed the one pocket from the ripped cloth._

_Jackpot!_

_His free hand went into the pocket, and with a triumphant look on his face, pulled out the ha’penny._

_“Come to daddy!” He spoke triumphantly, eying the shiny ha’penny in the palm of his hand._

_With a confident, yet conceited smirk, Bloodhound threw the ripped cloth in front of Short Fuse who also happened to have a small smirk on his face._

_“Slappy-san is SO gonna call foul on that one.” Short Fuse whispered to Lucky Rabbit and Crackletta._

_Speaking of Slappy-san, she had just finished getting the powder out of her face, her eyesight restored. Dusting the remaining powder off of her, she diverted her attention to Bloodhound, and then at the ripped cloth on the floor._

_“Unorthodox technique, Bloodhound.” She spoke with a sour expression, her eyes now focused on her ripped coat. “I should give ya a failing grade for destroying my coat like that.”_

_Short Fuse, Lucky Rabbit, and Crackletta smiled at each other._

_“However!” This caught the trio off-guard, they saw Slappy-san giving Bloodhound a small grin. “You’ve delivered excellent results by making use of your toon powers. Ya passed.”_

_Both Bloodhound and Slappy-san bowed to each other with respect. Bloodhound then gave Slappy-san her ha’penny back. The look on the trio’s face said it all - mostly Short Fuse who is now fuming with immense anger, his eyes locked at Bloodhound who returned to his seat with a smirk._

_“Why that no-good, arrogant, mothe-”_

_Both Lucky Rabbit and Crackletta were quick to shut Short Fuse’s beak before any word could come out of it._

_“Hey, hey! The kids are reading this!” Lucky Rabbit warned Short Fuse._

_“Lucky Rabbit!” The young toon diverted his attention to Slappy-san who had just put on another smoky topaz coat since the old one lost a piece of clothing thanks to Bloodhound. “You’re up!”_

_After making sure that Short Fuse had finally calmed down, Lucky Rabbit stood up from his seat, and began to approach the old squirrel with a confident smile._

_Piece of cake._

_\-----_

_Two hours later, the sound of students mumbling to themselves can be heard from Stealth 101, as well as from some of the other classrooms in this particular floor - exams are finally over for the day. The students are exhausted, and the only thing they had in mind is to go to their beds and sleep like there’s no tomorrow._

_Bloodhound was in a world of his own, constantly bragging about himself which earned him the ire of Short Fuse who had to keep himself from punching the dog in the face._ _José_ _, and Panchito were talking amongst themselves, heavily engrossed in whatever conversation they have right now._

_Lucky Rabbit, and Crackletta were the last students to leave Slappy-san’s classroom. Crackletta had noticed the dejected look on the young toon’s face. “You okay, kid?”_

_“I swear I hit every pocket.” Lucky Rabbit told her. “If there was a ha’penny in there, I couldn’t find it.”_

_“So you choked a little. Like that’s gonna affect your grade?” Crackletta reassured Lucky Rabbit._

_“I really wished you hadn't said that.” Lucky Rabbit replied with a deadpan look. “Now the readers will know how that’s gonna end.”_

_“My point is, kiddo, is that you’re the best pickpocket in our class. Totally in a league of your own.”_

_“You think so?”_

_Crackletta smiled as she playfully ruffled Lucky Rabbit’s head fur. “Lady’s honor.”_

_Lucky Rabbit gave her a grateful smile. That seemed to cheer him up a little as he and Crackletta walked away from Slappy-san’s classroom._

_“Come on! Let’s go to the library, and plot some future capers together!”_

_Yep. He can always trust Crackletta to be there for him when he’s feeling down. It’s funny that when he first met her, he had made a fool of himself like the other male students whenever they see a hot girl, but now, he didn’t see her as another pretty face. She was like a big sister to him - one he never had._

_And yet, as he took one last glance at the doorway, there was a gut feeling that’s telling him otherwise._

_He just hoped that Crackletta was right._

_\-----_

_The following morning came instantly at V.I.L.E. Academy, and today was different than any other day before that._

_The first sign Lucky Rabbit had noticed when he entered the foyer was that he saw a large crowd of students huddled near a very large electronic bulletin board that was located on the wall, facing the main entrance of the school._

_That can only mean one thing..._

_“Lucky Rabbit!” He heard Crackletta’s voice calling for him. “The results just came in today!”_

_So that’s why today’s different. This was it! Today’s the day he would finally become one of the 40 thieves so that he could finally leave the Isle of V.I.L.E., and go see the world for the first time in his life._

_First, he needed to see the results with his very own eyes. He needed to know if he made the cut or not, the suspense is killing him. But he had a much bigger problem in his hands right now; trying to get past the crowd that is keeping him from getting near the bulletin board, let alone get a good view of it from a far distance. He jumped up and down, trying to peer over the heads of the much taller students who were high-fiving each other and exchanging congratulations. This was the disadvantage of being the youngest student at V.I.L.E. Academy._

_Now he could use his toon powers by summoning a telescope from his hammerspace, but that would kill the impending suspense in this part of the chapter, so he would have to wait for his turn like a normal human._ _As he waited, he could hear the screams of egotistical joy coming from Bloodhound - that egotistical dog had passed with flying colors. Shortly afterwards, he could hear Bloodhound making a faint growl which meant that Short Fuse also passed with flying colors, much to the dog’s dismay._ _He then heard_ _José_ _and Panchito cheering, and congratulating each other. Both passed._

_The size of the crowd had started to dwindle for a bit, allowing Lucky Rabbit to get a better view of the scene, but he still couldn’t see his photo clearly from the bulletin board. That’s because he saw a big, fat polyester dinosaur who’s the color of the International House of Pancakes blocking his view - that’s Baloney, alright, and he was doing his little victory dance while singing his ‘I did it!’ song that sounded like diabetes. It was such a surprise that even he passed._

_Finally, the once large crowd had been reduced to four or five students. When he saw Baloney leaving, still singing his stupid song, he saw Crackletta, but something was off about her. She wasn’t her usual calm and collected self, but rather, she appeared to be… frightened at something. She was silent for a moment._

_Oh no!_

_He walked up to her._

_“Minerva?” He asked, not bothering to correct himself with the small slip of the tongue. He feared the worst. “Did you…?”_

_Crackletta turned, and looked at him. She frowned. “I’m good, but…”_

_If Crackletta passed, then why the sad look?_

_Crackletta looked back at the bulletin board, her eyes locked on one particular photo. Lucky Rabbit did the same. He gasped._ _That was HIS photo Crackletta was looking at. He saw something marked next to his photo, and that’s when he fully understood why._

_There was a red X marked beside his photo. He had failed._

_For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words._

_Not bothering to take his eyes off of his photo, he heard Crackletta apologizing to him. “I’m really sorry, kid.”_

_“Crackletta!” He heard Bloodhound’s voice coming toward the duo. “Come sit with the big boys!”_

_Finally, after what felt like eternity, he snapped out of the sudden shock, and managed to find his voice._

_“Go on, Minerva,” He encouraged Crackletta, looking at her who was currently being pulled away by a rather happy Bloodhound by the arm. He looked too happy. “I’ll be alright. Really.”_

_“Aww that’s too bad,” Bloodhound just had to be a condescending jerk about it. “I was hoping for the duck to fail, but I guess you’ll do.”_

_He now understood why Short Fuse hated Bloodhound so much. That dog was a major jerk._

_He pretended to be happy for Crackletta, for her sake. The last thing he needed was to appear weak in front of a jerk like Bloodhound. He didn’t need to give the dog any more reason to make fun of him for his shortcomings. Plus, he didn’t want to drag Crackletta into an uncomfortable position. She had just passed her school year. Let her enjoy herself for now._ _The best and only thing he could do at the moment is to watch Crackletta being dragged away by Bloodhound to be with the other students who have passed, probably making plans on their first capers._

_As soon as Crackletta and Bloodhound were out of sight, he threw the façade right out the window._

_Everything he had worked for… it had all been for naught._

_He needed to talk to Slappy-san._

_\-----_

_Three hours of setting up Toon Physics, and another three hours of setting up Stealth 101 for the next school year had come and went, and Slappy-san was feeling exhausted. That’s what she got for teaching two classes on the same day instead of the usual one class per day like most V.I.L.E. instructors. Right now, all she wanted to do is retreat to her beloved armchair, and watch some Looney Tunes reruns on TV._

_After making sure that no one’s in the classroom, Slappy-san closed the doors to Stealth 101, and as she was doing it, she felt a sudden whoosh behind her. She narrowed her eyes._

_Typical._

_It’s around that time again where students who are at risk of failing tried to earn some extra credits by stealing something from a V.I.L.E. staff member without getting caught. No matter how hard they tried, Slappy-san had made sure that none would succeed in stealing something from her. She did teach Stealth 101 for a reason._

_Her hand reached for her pockets, intending to find her keys so that she can lock it up for the day._

_What the heck? Where are her keys?_

_So someone finally managed to steal something from her without getting caught this time? Out of all the stuff they could’ve stolen from her, did it have to be her keys?_

_“Looking for these?”_

_Slappy-san turned around, and she saw Lucky Rabbit, in his school uniform, casually leaning against the wall. He had a smirk on his face, and he was holding her keys. He managed to steal her keys without her noticing it. What she didn’t expect was for Lucky Rabbit to casually throw her keys back to her, treating it like it was some game. Acting out of instincts, she quickly grabbed her keys._

_“Playing games, Lucky Rabbit?” Slappy-san asked, looking somewhat annoyed. Honestly, she was very impressed, but didn’t let it show._

_“No game.” Lucky Rabbit replied with a serious tone. “I’d like a do-over if possible.”_

_Slappy-san tucked her keys away in her pockets. She had a feeling that this was going to happen. “You’ll get your chance for a do-over, kid.”_

_Lucky Rabbit smiled, feeling hopeful..._

_“_ _Next year_ _, once ya redo your coursework.”_

_… and she threw that hope right out the window._

_Slappy-san had taken notice of the disappointed look on the young toon’s face. She sighed. “Look, kid, as much as I wanted to give ya a do-over, I really can’t bend school policy like that. Gotta keep things fair for the other students, y’know.”_

_“I guess.” Lucky Rabbit said, feeling defeated. “It’s just that… I know that I’m as good as anyone in my class…_ **_better_ ** _even.”_

_To demonstrate his point, he pulled out Slappy-san’s keys from out of nowhere._

_“How the heck did ya managed to do that?” Slappy-san asked curiously, snatching the keys out of Lucky Rabbit’s grasp. “And without me catching ya in the act, no less?”_

_Lucky Rabbit just shrugged with a smirk. “I thought you taught Stealth 101.”_

_“That’s beside the point.” She continued, tucking her keys into a different pocket this time. “Remember what I said at the beginning about ya having what it takes to be the best toon thief that V.I.L.E. has ever seen?”_

_He nodded, but he was starting to feel worried. Had Slappy-san been lying to him the whole time?_

_“I_ **_meant_ ** _every word I said.” Slappy-san reassured him, looking at him dead in the eyes. “Ya do have that potential, but I’m afraid I have to agree with Baron Plotz when he said that you're an unruly, undisciplined prankster who doesn’t know when to cut back on the zaniness.”_

_He snarled at the mention of Baron Plotz. “Well what do you expect from a toon-hating killjoy who doesn’t even have a neck to begin with? He’s real pain in the -”_

_“Hey, keep it PG, kid.” Slappy-san sternly warned him. “I would strongly advise ya to find a way to get those qualities in check, because I feared that they may be holding ya back from reaching your full potential.”_

_And with that, Slappy-san walked away, leaving Lucky Rabbit alone in the darkened hallways. All was quiet, but a few seconds later..._

_“Oh for crying out loud, stop stealing my keys!”_

_Pulling the keys from his hammerspace, he threw them back to Slappy-san with a devilish smirk. Well that was fun while it lasted. “Third time’s the charm.”_

_What Slappy-san had said to him earlier seemed to have been stuck in his head. He smiled. He wasn’t just a kid. He was a great thief, and he can prove it._

_He was going to get off the island… sooner than what everyone would expect from him._

_\-----_

_Graduation came and went like a blur, and late one night, Ralph, a big, fat, balding man who wore the usual janitor’s outfit colored pale-green. was doing his nightly routine by checking the dorms to see if any V.I.L.E. students are asleep in their bunks. Ralph stopped at one of the dorms and opened the doors a little for inspection._

_This particular dorm room was mostly empty for the night; the newly graduates who reside in this room are off to pull their first caper tonight, and the only student here who didn’t graduate was Lucky Rabbit._

_Speaking of Lucky Rabbit, Ralph saw the young toon fast asleep in his bunk, his entire body covered in a bedsheet. The only thing Ralph could see were Lucky Rabbit’s long ears sticking out from the bedsheet._

_“Duh… goodnight, Lucky Rabbit!” Ralph cried out to the sleeping toon. “See you tomorrow!”_

_Content with the fact that Lucky Rabbit’s asleep, Ralph exited the dorm room and moved on to the next one._

_With Ralph fully gone and out of sight, the lid of Lucky Rabbit’s student trunk opened in a violent manner, and out came..._ **_Lucky Rabbit_ ** _himself. He was gasping for air._

_“Note to self; NEVER hide in a small, air-tight container.”_

_He tiptoed toward the door, and quietly opened it a bit. He had to make sure that Ralph doesn’t see him sneaking out in case the big oaf comes back. He saw Ralph entering a room three doors down and heard the big oaf yelling - someone forgot their bedtime._

_Taking that chance, he slipped out of the dorm room, silently like a ninja._

_It was dark, with only Ralph’s flashlight being a source of light, but that didn’t bother Lucky Rabbit though. He knew these halls like the back of his head - one of the advantages of growing up on the island. Years ago, he had mapped the entire academy out of boredom, but now, he was gonna put it to good use._

_He crept quietly through the hallway, his paws made no sound amongst the squeaky-clean floor until he came across the boys’ restroom. After making sure that no one was watching, Lucky Rabbit quietly slipped inside the boys’ restroom. It was empty for now, and it smelled terrible, but he wasn’t here to complain about the restroom’s awful conditions. Either Ralph or another student could come in here any minute, so he would have to act fast._

_It’s a good thing that all the stalls were vacant and ready to use._

_He entered one of the vacant stalls, and made sure that the stall door was closed all the way and locked tight in order to avoid getting spotted. He knew that what he was about to do was considered a dirty job to most people, but it needed to be done anyway._

_Taking a deep breath, Lucky Rabbit climbed up to the toilet, standing on the shallow toilet water, and pushed down the flush handle. He had flushed himself down the toilet._

_He found himself spinning in circles as the toilet water managed to drag him inside the toilet drain that would lead him into the island’s sewers. He was starting to feel dizzy, and he thought he was going to throw up thanks to the combination of the toilet smell and the adrenaline. He had been sliding for what seemed like seconds until he reached the end, and landed on the sewage water with a SPLASH and a THUD!_

_He had made it to the island’s sewers, and it was dark, damp, cold, and smelly. Just like any other sewers in the world._

_He took the time to examine himself, and boy did he look and smell horrible! He should’ve packed his turtleneck jumpsuit with him in situations like this one, but he really can’t go back to the dormitory, and get changed. Too late for that._

_It’s not like he could just make a quick outfit change via spinning a few times, can he? He facepalmed. He had almost forgotten that he was a toon for crying out loud!_

_He needed a quick shower!_

_Reaching for his hammerspace, he pulled out a bathtub, complete with shower curtains and a shower head, and proceeded to take a quick shower. It went on for a couple of seconds until he turned off the hot water, and he pulled the shower curtains open, feeling pleased with himself. He had exchanged his smelly, drenched school uniform for his warm, dry turtleneck jumpsuit. That would definitely save him a lot of time that could’ve been wasted on trying to sneak back into the dormitory without letting Ralph know._

_After that quick shower, Lucky Rabbit proceeded to trek straight ahead in the sewers; there were many tunnels down there, but he also knew them like the back of his head. Finally, after walking straight ahead for what felt like forever, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and made a beeline toward it without hesitation. He reached toward the end, but now had to face another problem._

_The large iron sewer grate that is keeping him from getting out._

_He got a good look at the outside for a moment. He saw the familiar docks - the one where Miss Norita would arrive every year via boat. Not far from the docks, he saw a tall hill towering the docks behind a forest of tall palm trees, and on top of that hill was V.I.L.E.’s landing pad where his ride should be - a sleek, high-tech helicopter, capable of blending in to even the darkest of nights thanks to its jet-black paint-job._

_Perfect!_

_Grabbing the cold, damp bars of the grate with both hands, Lucky Rabbit proceeded to use his toon strength to push the grate open. It wouldn’t budge, and he was starting to feel his muscles getting sore as he kept trying to push the grate open, but to no avail. He had to stop to take a breather for a moment. It was too much._

_No. He can’t give up now._

_If he can’t use his toon strength to physically push the grate open, he’ll have to settle with a mallet. Reaching for his hammerspace, he pulled out a large and strong mallet, and gave the grate a good whack._

_BAM!_

_The impact caused the heavy grate to slowly open by a few inches. That was sufficient enough for Lucky Rabbit though. He didn’t need to have the grate open all the way. Putting the mallet away in his hammerspace, Lucky Rabbit jumped out. He was going to hitch a ride._

_He darted forward toward the one hiding place he would often use to throw water balloons at Miss Norita. He hid behind the rocks, making sure that no one was spotting him. He stayed still for a moment, and then peeked out a little; the docks were empty right now._

_So far, so good._

_He sprinted out of his hiding place, as quietly as a mouse, and made a break for it toward the landing pad. When he got there, he ducked behind a pile of wooden crates, and witnessed two helicopter pilots loading some stuff into the helicopter._

_Then, he heard a faint ringtone._

_Uh oh!_

_Panicking, he quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket, just to check to see if the ringtone was coming from his phone._

_It wasn’t vibrating, which meant… the ringtone isn’t coming from him._

_He peeked out of his hiding place a little, and saw what was going on near the helicopter. One of the pilots was completely engrossed on their phone, with the other pilot just standing there in an impatient manner. They had their backs turned on the helicopter._

_Now’s his chance!_

_With the pilots distracted, he tiptoed towards the helicopter doors; they were opened. He glanced at the two pilots; they’re still on the phone. He silently climbed inside, and saw the perfect place to hide - the supply area at the far end of the helicopter._

_Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. Thinking fast, he hid inside the supply area, and closed its doors, though not fully, only leaving an inch or two opened. He wanted to see what’s going on from his hiding place, plus not make the same mistake he made when he hid in his student trunk._

_He saw the action beginning to unfold._

_“Our first crime caper, boys!” He heard Crackletta’s voice. “It all gets real!”_

_He saw Crackletta entering the helicopter with a confident smile, and took her seat. She wasn’t wearing her usual ponytail this time; she had decided to let her hair down for tonight._

_“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this, O Mágico!” He heard Panchito talking to_ _José who also shared his friend’s enthusiasm. “I’m so excited!”_

_“It’ll give me a chance to finally put my black magic skills to good use, El Arma!” He heard José replied._

_O Mágico - José’s codename._

_El Arma - Panchito’s codename._

_He got a good look at O Mágico and El Arma who are taking their seats across Crackletta._

_O Mágico wore a traditional magician’s outfit; a sharp-looking black tuxedo with a matching top hat, and to complete his look, he wore a sparking black and purple cape (black on the outside; purple on the inside). El Arma still had his trademark giant sombrero, but the outfit he wore totally went well with it. He wore a black jumpsuit underneath a fiery-red poncho with Mexican patterns on it, a brown gun belt, a pair of large gloves, and a pair of shiny spurs on his bare feet - how does that even work? Both birds wore their own bandit’s mask, similar to Short Fuse’s._

_He frowned when he saw Bloodhound taking his seat next to Crackletta, making an attempt to flirt with the mink who appeared to be uninterested in his advances._

_“You and I would make such beautiful music together.” Bloodhound flirted as he kissed the back of Crackletta’s hand a few times. Lucky Rabbit couldn’t help but gag at that one-liner._

_“Bloodhound, we have a caper to pull off.” Crackletta warned the lustful dog, pulling her hand away from him. “Stop thinking with your_ _**wiener**.” _

_“_ _But I haven’t got a bite to eat all day.” Bloodhound whined, pulling out a hotdog from his hammerspace. “I’m hungry.”_

_He looked at Crackletta lustfully; drool coming out of his mouth. “And_ **_thirsty_ ** _.”_

_Goodnight, everybody!_

_“You should’ve thought of that_ **_before_ ** _we leave.” Short Fuse countered as he took his seat next to El Arma. Bloodhound pouted like a spoiled brat._

_The two pilots then entered the helicopter. One proceeded to enter the cockpit while the other looked at the group of five, all of them putting their seatbelts on. They slid the helicopter doors shut._

_“All buckled up?” They asked. All five of them gave the pilot thumbs ups. Satisfied with the group’s answer, the other pilot joined their partner at the cockpit._

_Lucky Rabbit then heard the sound of a loud engine starting up. It grew louder as he then heard the metal blades beginning to spin at an increasingly fast pace until it got to full speed. Then, he felt a strange weightless sensation under his feet; the helicopter lifted up from the ground. Holding his knees tightly to his chest, he smiled; barely able to keep his excitement to himself._

_For the very first time in his life, he was finally leaving the island. He was finally going to see the rest of the world, and what it was like before his very own eyes._

_Minutes went by at a slow pace; Lucky Rabbit could hear faint voices, talking amongst themselves throughout the ride. It was impossible to hear words clearly thanks to the loud engine running, but he managed to make out the words ‘gem’, and ‘dig’._

_His limbs were beginning to cramp due to being in the same position for a long period of time. Very quietly, he changed position to where he could get a better view from the window. The rich blue ocean with the bright moon’s reflection shining in the waters. A hilly, mountainous coastline below the helicopter._

_The view was beautiful so far… and he felt a buzzing coming from his pocket. Panicking, he pulled out his phone. Why in Spielberg’s name did he decided to bring it with him in the first place? He saw a familiar white fedora graphic on the screen - it’s Pinky and the Brain._

_“Really not a good time, guys.” He half-whispered and half-shouted at the two lab mice._

_“You really can’t cite the ‘no-cellphone’ rule if you’re not on campus, Lucky Rabbit.” Brain’s voice responded._

_“Going on a field trip?” Pinky’s voice asked curiously._

_“Uhhhhhh… what made you come to that conclusion?” Lucky Rabbit asked. Despite the circumstances, he couldn’t help but be impressed at how much the two lab mice were able to figure that out just by using the computers at Acme Labs._

_“Remember how we could never hack past the jammers at your private school to triangulate your location?” Brian asked._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Apparently, by sheer luck, your phone suddenly lit up on our dashboard. If I’m not wrong, you’re currently travelling en route to-”_

_“Approaching drop point! Assume your positions!” One of the pilots commanded loudly over the helicopter intercom._

_“I’m gonna have to call you back!” Lucky Rabbit hung up in a hurry, putting the phone back in his pocket._

_Drop point?_

_He noticed the group walking over to a rack, each grabbing a parachute pack, and putting it on like a backpack. Crackletta was the last to get hers, and sudden realization hit Lucky Rabbit hard._

_The helicopter wasn’t going to land on the ground. Instead, the operatives are going to_ **_parachute_ ** _down to their assigned location!_

_And he doesn’t have one!_

_The helicopter’s rear door began to open. O Mágico and El Arma were the first to jump off, both having looks of pure joy and excitement._

_Bloodhound was next. He hesitated beside the open door, his knees shaking. If he hadn’t been forced to hide throughout the trip, Lucky Rabbit would’ve made fun of the cocky mutt for being so scared. Short Fuse seemed to be thinking the same._

_The duck walked up to him, feigning sympathy. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to impress Crackletta with your manliness?”_

_He kicked Bloodhound forward, causing the screaming dog to fall off the helicopter. All he could make out was, “I’ll get you for this, duck! I swear!”_

_“Thanks, he was starting to get on my nerves.” Crackletta thanked him as she walked up next to him._

_“Don’t mention it.” Short Fuse jumped off, looking very satisfied with his work._

_Only Crackletta was left on the helicopter, and Lucky Rabbit realized that it was now or never._

_“Heads up!”_

_Crackletta turned around, and her mouth dropped open in surprise. Before she could even react, Lucky Rabbit came running toward her at high speed, and tackled her. She flew backwards straight out of the helicopter, with Lucky Rabbit falling with her into the open sky._

_He held tightly to Crackletta, afraid of letting go. He felt the wind rushing past his face._

_“Lucky Rabbit?!” He heard Crackletta exclaim about the sound of the roaring wind._

_“Don’t let go!”_

_Clouds rushed past the falling duo, and the distant ground was getting closer by the second. Lucky Rabbit tried to ignore the sickening falling sensation in the pit of his stomach when he noticed O Mágico’s parachute open and billow up in a mushroom shape far below the duo. Soon, there were three more that did the same. He knew that it was El Arma’s, Short Fuse’s, and Bloodhound’s._

_Before he knew it, it was their turn. Crackletta pulled a cord on her parachute pack, and the duo felt a sudden jolt as the parachute burst out, catching them._

_They floated gently toward the ground, and Lucky Rabbit took a minute to look at his surroundings; it looked like ancient ruins, with towers of crumbling stones rising from the ground in the desert landscape._

_They safely landed a short distance away from the others. As the parachute fell to the ground, Crackletta took off her pack and tossed it aside._

_She looked at Lucky Rabbit, with an angry look on her face._

_“Are you out of your mind?” She screamed at him in a low voice, enough so that the others can’t hear her. It was filled with shock and concern. “You could’ve gotten the both of us killed with that stunt of yours!”_

_“We’re alive, aren’t we?” Lucky Rabbit replied in a deadpan tone._

_“Why didn’t you pull your own parachute pack from your hammerspace if you’re so insistent on putting my entire criminal career at risk?”_

_Lucky Rabbit shrugged. “My thought process wasn’t working at the moment.”_

_Crackletta sighed. “Have you thought about what the faculty might do to you if they found out you tagged along on our mission?”_

_He rolled his eyes. “Relax, toots. I’ll be long gone.”_

_“_ _Crackletta? We gotta move!” Short Fuse’s voice pierced through the ruins._

_“Stay here.” Crackletta sternly warned Lucky Rabbit. “I mean it.”_

_Lucky Rabbit watched as Crackletta ran off through the ruins and turned onto a narrow stone street. He grinned._

_Time to crash a caper._

_He walked quickly into the direction that Crackletta had left, not wanting to get lost in a foreign land after dark. He ran past a pile of stone rubble and gasped. He recognized something from a distance - the soaring tower of the elaborate oceanfront Hassan II Mosque; iconic to the shimmering skyline of Casablanca, Morocco. He could see the ocean rolling up against the rocky shore, the streets aglow in the moonlight which casted a purple hue on the white stone buildings. The view of the city up close was even more beautiful than the pictures he saw from his geography book. He let out a smile._

_He was in Morocco; he finally made it to the real world._

_But as much as he liked to stay and admire the view, he knew he had a mission to complete. The sightseeing can come later._

_But first, he took a selfie; he would cherish this moment forever._

_He trekked through the ruins, trying to find Crackletta and the others, but they were already long gone by the time he got closer to the city. He was lost; uncertain of where he should go or what he was looking for. How was he going to help them with the mission if he can't even find them?_

_He then heard a rumbling sound, and it’s not coming from his stomach. Curious, he followed the source of the sound, weaving through the busy streets of Casablanca. It got louder and louder until he came upon an ancient stone archway. Bright lights were coming from behind, making it impossible for him to see beyond the blinding lights._

_Reaching for his hammerspace, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses, and stepped toward the blinding lights. With the sunglasses on, he found himself peering into what appeared to be a giant construction pit. He took off his sunglasses for a moment to get a better look. He saw huge digging machines clearing dirt from the ground, and small groups of workers hunched down on the floor of the pit, using tiny picks and brushes to wipe away soil._

_If this was a construction pit, why are they using small tools instead of something bigger like shovels and jackhammers? Are they even building something here?_

_“Hey, kid!” He heard a female’s voice coming toward him._

_Startled, he dropped his sunglasses by accident, and turned to the source of the voice. Standing in front of him was a young female duck with white feathers, and black eyes. If it weren’t for her shoulder-length hair with swoop bangs, she would’ve looked almost_ **_identical_ ** _to Short Fuse; she was even around Short Fuse’s age. The female duck wore a brown flight jacket with a sea green shirt underneath, a pair of tan shorts, a brown flight helmet, black goggles, and blue scarf._

_“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you like that, but I’m pretty sure it’s not safe to be out on your own at this time of night.” She spoke with such concern in her voice. “Do your folks know where you are?”_

_Lucky Rabbit chuckled. “Uhhhhh… I don’t even know_ **_where_ ** _I am, miss…”_

_“You can call me Della.” The female duck, Della, replied with a smile, offering Lucky Rabbit a hand._

_“Uhhh...” He hesitated a bit before shaking her hand. He had to come up with a fake name. “I’m Rob.”_

_“Nice to meet you, Rob.” She placed her hand over Lucky Rabbit’s shoulder as she led him toward the pit._

_“What is this place?” He looked around. “Doesn’t look like your normal construction site to me.”_

_Della’s eyes gleamed as she explained with such enthusiasm, “Actually, it’s an archaeological dig site. It’s where we search for links to our past. Y’know, like dinosaur bones, Indian arrowheads, even broken pieces of a ceramic pot; basically anything that would be considered historic, really.”_

_Lucky Rabbit took notice of the workers using small tools. “Well that explains the tiny picks and brushes.”_

_Della’s eyes shined. Lucky Rabbit knew that Della loved nothing more than sharing her passion and knowledge with others. Even with a toon thief like him._

_“What are you guys looking for?” He asked Della._

_Della gasped as she squished Lucky Rabbit’s face. “Your poor unfortunate soul! Haven’t you heard the news lately?”_

_“What news?” He wheezed._

_Della gasped again. “We’ve just discovered something incredible! We’ve finally found the Eye of Vishnu!”_

_“The eye of what now?”_

_She noticed the confusion in Lucky Rabbit’s eyes. She let go of his face. “The Eye of Vishnu is one of the most famous gems in the entire world. We thought it had been lost for centuries, but my crew and I were able to identify it just a few days ago thanks to our state-of-the-art underground imaging technology.”_

_She motioned Lucky Rabbit to look at where she was pointing; he saw Della’s crew digging up a huge hole with several high-tech machinery. “Right now, we’re carefully unearthing it.”_

_“Uhhhhh… aren’t you worried that someone might steal it at any given moment?” Lucky Rabbit asked nervously. “Like_ **_tonight_ ** _or something?”_

_He saw Della having a laughing fit for a moment, and that scared him a little. Finally, Della calmed down, wiping a tear off of her eye. “You don’t have to worry about that happening, Rob. I’ve got great security here. Plus, everyone knows that a treasure like this rightfully belongs in a museum.”_

_“Museum?”_

_“It’s where we keep all the historic artifacts we’ve found on display.” Della explained. “Some stuff might be worth lots of money, but some stuff possess value that goes way beyond that. So therefore, a historic find like the Eye of Vishnu belongs to_ **_everyone_ ** _.”_

_She then frowned. “It would be insanely criminal of someone to rob the world of this historic knowledge. That would be a_ **_true_ ** _crime.”_

_“Gee… I’ve never really thought of it that way.” Lucky Rabbit admitted. He wondered… if what Della had told him was true, does that mean that everything he knew about the world from V.I.L.E. was all a lie?_

_“Listen, Della, there’s something I need to tell you. About the Eye of Vishnu...”_

_All of a sudden, all the floodlights in the archaeological site went out. Everything went dark._

_“Whatever it is you wanted to tell me, Rob, it’ll have to wait.” Della pulled out a walkie-talkie from her hammerspace. “Pit crew, report!”_

_Lucky Rabbit saw Della taking off, and it all suddenly dawned on him. That sudden blackout? Crackletta must’ve cut the power!_

**_This_ ** _was their first caper!_

_And the Eye of Vishnu was their_ **_target!_ **

_If Crackletta was already here, then the others are not far behind._

_He looked up at the surrounding hills and ruins, trying to spot them in the dark. Then he saw it; climbing up at a part of a large ancient wall was the unmistakable silhouette of O Mágico. He saw O Mágico jumping off toward where two security guards were posted, and recited a magic spell, causing large purple clouds to surround the unsuspecting guards. The clouds disappeared after a few seconds, and he gasped in horror._

_In their place were lifeless rag doll versions of the two security guards. He had to keep himself from actually screaming in terror._

_He then heard loud cries from below. He looked down to see El Arma shooting three workers dead with his pistols while Bloodhound raced toward the site, his claws and fangs shining in the moonlight. At a lightning-fast speed, Bloodhound had managed to violently knock down several workers as he made his way across the excavation. He found himself unable to physically move from his spot; completely mesmerized by the horrific sights that he did not hear several bombs going off not far away._

_This was Short Fuse’s work._

_Snapping out of his temporary trance, Lucky Rabbit headed toward the source of the explosion. He saw several terrified workers scrambling to get away from the large flames. He saw a figure emerging from the flames._

_It was Short Fuse!_

_He also saw Della running into the pit and only stopping mere inches away from the raging fire. She gasped when she saw Short Fuse standing in front of her. In his hands was a gigantic blue gem - the Eye of Vishnu!_

_It was the most beautiful thing Lucky Rabbit had ever seen in his entire life. “It’s amazing.”_

_Della’s surprised expression quickly turned into anger. “Donald? What are you doing here? And with the Eye of Vishnu?”_

_“My name’s Short Fuse!” Short Fuse angrily corrected her._

_Lucky Rabbit was confused._

_“Do you two know each other?” Lucky Rabbit asked the two angry ducks._

_“Rob,” Della sighed, keeping her eyes on Short Fuse. “This is my twin brother, Donald. It’s… complicated.”_

_Now it’s Short Fuse’s turn to be confused. He turned to Lucky Rabbit. “Rob? What the heck is she talking about, Lucky Rabbit?”_

_Now it’s Della’s turn to be confused. She diverted her attention to Lucky Rabbit. “Lucky Rabbit? What is he talking about?”_

_“Lucky Rabbit! Get out of here!” Lucky Rabbit heard Crackletta yelling at him from a distance. “You’ll ruin the mission!”_

_Della gave Lucky Rabbit a shocked look, feeling betrayed. “You’re in cahoots with them?”_

_“Uhhh… it’s complicated.” He never felt more confused than ever._

_Della sighed as she lunged at Short Fuse. She yelled with so much fury in her eyes. “That gem belongs to everyone, Donald!”_

_Lucky Rabbit could only stand there and watch as Della and Short Fuse wrestled each other; both wanting to grab hold of the gem. Both ducks have that look of pure hatred in their eyes._

_“Give it back, Donald!”_

_“Let go of me, Dumbella!”_

_“You’re robbing the world of historic knowledge!”_

_“I don’t give a damn about what the world thinks!”_

_“Hey! This is a family-friendly fanfic!” Lucky Rabbit warned Short Fuse._

_Both Della and Short Fuse shot the young toon dirty looks before resuming their fight. “You stay out of this!”_

_Sheesh. Tough crowd._

_“Give me the Eye of Vishnu, Donald!” Della tried pulling the gem away from Short Fuse’s grip._

_Short Fuse simply smirked. “You want it? Take it!”_

_With that, Short Fuse let go of the gem, causing Della to fly backwards onto the ground. Lucky Rabbit was confused at what Short Fuse had done; he never gave up this easily._

_Unless…_

_He started hearing a ticking noise. He put two and two together._

_Short Fuse had performed a_ **_bait-and-switch!_ **

_“Della, the_ **_gem!_ ** _” He tried to warn the female duck. “Get rid of it now!”_

_BOOM!_

_The explosion had sent Lucky Rabby flying backward where his body slammed into an ancient wall nearby. That sudden impact had only bruised his back a little. He slowly got up on his feet, taking a good look at where the exploding had occurred. Della was nowhere to be seen; smoke was rising from the spot where she had been. Neither was Short Fuse who had simply vanished._

_No._

_Did Short Fuse really do that to his own sister?_

_“Uhhhh…” He heard a faint groan, not far from where he was standing._

_He turned and sighed in relief._

_Della’s okay, but it seemed that her left leg was stuck in a huge pile of debris caused by the explosion. She was in immense pain. She tried to pull her leg out of the debris, but to no avail._

_Not far from Della, he saw a black and purple portal appear out of nowhere and out came O Mágico and El Arma. He then saw Crackletta approaching Della from behind; a serious expression written on her face._

_“Remember, Crackletta,” O Mágico spoke to her. “Leave no witnesses.”_

_“Minerva?” Lucky Rabbit asked; confused at what O Mágico had said to her. “What’s going on?”_

_Ignoring his presence, Crackletta pulled something out of her hammerspace. It was a long metal rod made entirely out of steel and electronics. Lucky Rabbit instantly recognized that weapon. It was that crackle rod that Dr. Scratchy made several months ago._ _He saw Crackletta switching it on, turning the dial up to full power. A dangerous amount of electricity began to charge up inside the rod. She pointed her weapon directly at a struggling Della._

_He now realized what O Mágico had meant; Crackletta was going to_ **_kill_ ** _Della in the same way El Arma had killed three workers earlier._

_“NO!”_

_He tackled the mink into the ground just as she fired the crackle rod._

_The beam of electricity had just missed Della by an inch, hitting a wooden scaffolding lining the ruins instead; it erupted into flames. Della was too focused on getting her leg free, but a nearby worker had taken notice of Lucky Rabbit’s selfless act._

_What had happened to the scaffold could’ve been her!_

_With Lucky Rabbit occupied with Crackletta, the worker helped Della get free from the debris._

_“Della, are you okay?” They asked as they got Della onto her feet._

_Della winched in pain. “Something’s wrong. I can’t feel my left leg.”_

_“Let’s get you to a doctor, and have it checked out.”_

_Realizing the danger they were in, and the immense pain Della was in right now, the worker carried her off from the site, never to be seen again for the remainder of this chapter._

_Crackletta was about to go after them, but an angry Lucky Rabbit stepped in front of her.._

_“What are you doing?” He yelled at her whilst keeping her away from Della and the worker. “What the hell is wrong with you?”_

_Crackletta couldn’t find the words as she was too shocked by Lucky Rabbit’s sudden outburst._

_"I’ll handle the brat!” Bloodhound’s voice came from behind the toon._

_Crackletta could only watch in horror as Bloodhound made a lightning dash toward Lucky Rabbit, intending on harming him. She didn’t expect a very pissed-off Lucky Rabbit to grab the crackle rod from her hands, kicking her off to the side, and effortlessly knock the dog out cold with it, treating it as if it were a giant mallet._

_“Ooooo… that’s gonna leave a mark.” She commented on Bloodhound’s fate._

_“He did not protect the face.” El Arma added._

_But Lucky Rabbit was not done with her just yet. He angrily swung the crackle rod as he approached her. A pissed-off toon kid, plus a dangerous weapon such as the crackle rod was not a good combination._

_Crackletta backed away; she was terrified._

_“What is going on, Minerva?” He moved closer to the mink, still swinging the crackle rod toward her._

_“Kid…” Crackletta tried to find the right words, but quickly had to duck from an incoming attack._

_Lucky Rabbit wasn’t having any of it. “Tell me!”_

_Suddenly, he felt someone grabbing him from behind; one hand clasp around his mouth. A cloth rag that smelled of strong chemicals was pressed tightly to his face. He struggled wildly, kicking and flailing his arms, even tried to bite his captor, but it was no use. He didn’t notice his phone slipping out from his pocket._

_“Duh… sorry, Lucky Rabbit, but I’ve got orders to take you back to V.I.L.E. Island now.” He heard Ralph talking to him. He sounded apologetic._

_“Ralph…” He weakly spoke, his eyelids starting to feel heavy. “How did you know I was here?”_

_“Hiya, friend! Did you miss me?”_

_Oh no!_

_He saw Baloney popping out from nowhere. Despite starting to slip into unconsciousness, he couldn’t help but send a terrifying death glare to that obnoxious Barney knockoff. “You.”_

_“I was getting worried when I saw you sneak off and hitch a ride at the big helicopter earlier, so I told our teachers about it.” Baloney happily explained, completely oblivious to Lucky Rabbit’s anger being directed at him. “Good thing Ralph found ya, huh.”_

_“Yeah…” He replied sarcastically; his vision beginning to blur. “Good thing he did, you... **snitch**.” _

_He could barely make out the image of Short Fuse smiling proudly as he held the_ **_real_ ** _Eye of Vishnu in his arms. He even saw a distraught Crackletta._

_Everything went dark._

The train finally made a stop at the next train station; this was the half-way point Minerva had mentioned in the last chapter. Yakko was carefully studying Minerva. She still had that crackle rod that she used to try to use on Della. Minerva did the same with Yakko.

Neither of them spoke a single word.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Yakko broke the silence.

“You were like the big sister I never had, Minerva...”

Just looking at Minerva alone was giving him that feeling of betrayal. She wasn’t the same Minerva he had met during orientation a long time ago, but… what if there was a chance that the Minerva he knew was still in there somewhere.

“... until that moment in Morocco.”

Minerva sadly sighed. “Graduation was a real game-changer, kid…”

_On the night of the graduation, Minerva, as well as all the other graduates have been told to go to a surprise seminar. She thought it was annoying, seeing as how they had just graduated not too long ago. But since the faculty wanted them to go to that seminar since it seemed very important, she supposed that she would have to give in to their request._

_The seminar was being held at V.I.L.E.’s faculty lounge. Upon entering the room, she saw Short Fuse, O Mágico, El Arma, and Bloodhound waiting for her. Same with the other graduates._

_The lounge was very dark; she would have a hard time spotting her colleagues if it weren't for a couple of giant cylinder lights hanging from the ceiling, directly above the five faculty members who were sitting behind the long table in their long chairs. Thanks to the lighting, she felt some sort of ominous vibe coming from the faculty members, as if something threatening was going to happen at any given moment. They looked like vultures, waiting for the right moment to strike down at their prey._

_Dr. Scratchy leaned forward with a grin that looked very menacing. “Graduates... you did not make it zis far on your grades_ **_alone_ ** _.”_

_What does Dr. Scratchy mean by that?_

_It was Madame Flamiel’s turn to speak. “We have been watching you all along to test your allegiance, as well as your willingness to go to any... necessary extremes.”_

_Slappy-san stood up, casting a long, dark shadow over the graduates. Minerva couldn’t help but feel a chill running up to her spine. She saw a katana strapped to the elderly squirrel’s waist, and watched as the latter pulled it out of its sheath._

_Slappy-san spoke in a cold tone. “Let no yutz stand in the way of achieving our goals, no matter who or what they are.”_

_“You’ve earned your place at our elite table.” Baron Plotz added. Despite being the shortest of the five, he definitely looked menacing during that moment._

_“And now…” Coach Pete spoke with an evil grin; he looked like an evil villain from a Saturday-morning cartoon. “You will hear the_ **_true_ ** _name of V.I.L.E.”_

_He gestured to the logo on the floor in front of the graduates._

_“ **V** illains **I** nternational **L** eague of **E** vil.” _

Yakko had listened to Minerva’s story intently. Why in Spielberg’s name hadn’t he thought about it before?

“I should’ve known.” It all made sense to him now. “The acronym itself was an obvious clue all this time.”

The train started moving again as Yakko kept his focus on Minerva. He narrowed his eyes.

Minerva felt guilty. "Kid..."

“Don't 'kid' me. My upbringing was all a lie.” He cut her off, his cold tone being sharp like a knife, and it was starting to scare Minerva. “Stealing _isn’t_ a game. It does harm people...”

He noticed Minerva starting to feel uncomfortable as she tried to back away from him against the train seat. 

“... especially when you’re willing to steal _lives_.”

* * *

Daffy was ignoring the screams and insults coming from bystanders - both angry and petrified, as he drove on the railroad tracks in pursuit of Yakko Sandiego. He was still chasing the toon thief’s train, determined to not let him slip through his fingers. 

If Yakko Sandiego managed to cross the border, that would mean that he would no longer be in Daffy’s territory, which also meant that the duck would no longer have the jurisdiction needed to make an arrest. He would lose his only chance of catching the toon thief in red for good. 

And his only chance of guiding him to the path of the straight and narrow.

Yakko may have played him for a fool back at the chateau earlier, but not this time. He won’t fall for the young toon’s trick anymore.

He never took his foot off the gas pedal as he continued to drive like a maniac; his car slowly falling apart. He would have to ask Interpol to give him a new car next time.

The train suddenly came to a stop.

“Finally!” Daffy yelled in relief as he hit the brakes, causing his car to come to a sudden stop. He jumped out of the car, and made a run for it toward the conductor’s window. He quickly took out his badge, and waved it back and forth at the window.

“Interpol!” He shouted. “Let me in!”

Unfortunately for Daffy, the conductor could not hear him over the loud train engine. To Daffy's horror, this particular train pulled away from the train station, slowly picking up the pace. Daffy was left behind at the empty train station.

Yakko Sandiego had slipped through his fingers yet again.

“At least I still got my car.” Daffy said as he looked at his car - or what was _left_ of it that was still parked on the railroad tracks.

But no sooner had he said that, an incoming train had violently mowed his car down; an explosion had occurred. There was nothing left of his car aside from heaps of burning car parks scattered across the area. He saw firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances pulling up at the train station at lightning-fast speed. He watched as several firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and railroad workers rush over to the scene of the collision. Some were trying to put out the fire while some check up on the train to see if there were damage that occurred, and if there were any passengers on board that might need medical attention.

Daffy sighed. 

This was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, we got codename reveals from the other students whom Yakko was close to. Aside from Newt's, it was pretty challenging to come up with good codenames for Donald, José, and Panchito. Donald's is Short Fuse since he's well known for his short temper. José's is O Mágico which is Portuguese for "the magician" since he dabbles with black magic which was mostly canon... at least in the animation department. Panchito's is El Arma which is Spanish for "the gun" since the rooster likes to use his guns, especially in older works like "The Three Caballeros" for example. If you haven't guessed, José and Panchito are stand-ins for Le Chèvre and El Topo - not sure where their relationship would go but for now, let's leave it up for the imagination.
> 
> So... in case you haven't noticed, I've got some plans for Donald in the future. Can't tell you the details just yet, but let's just say that he plays... an important role in this AU.
> 
> Up next... the second part of the birth of Yakko Sandiego.


	6. The Birth of Yakko Sandiego

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part of the birth of Yakko Sandiego where Yakko tells Minerva his second attempt at escaping from the Isle of V.I.L.E.

Yakko and Minerva sat in silence across from each other in the train car as it chugged steadily along, heading to Paris. While still angry at Minerva, he kept a calm and collected poise. His black and red satchel lay next to him, containing his stolen prize.

By now, Interpol would have found their way into the chateau, just like he planned.

The EMP has yet to wear off, so any attempts at contacting Pinky and the Brain were out of the question. He knew from experience that his two mice dads would be worried sick should anything happen to him, and would do whatever it takes to make sure he was safe from any harm. Especially if that harm was in the form of a beautiful mink like Minerva.

He’ll be fine; he’ll make sure of that. He’ll deal with their overprotectiveness later.

Minerva looked out the window, and then at Yakko with an irritated look. “Our journey’s coming to an end, kid, and I’m still not any closer to knowing the full story behind your zany new look…”

She charged the crackle rod; increasing the voltage a bit. “... or your _name_.”

Yakko knew that Minerva wasn’t fooling around; he knew all too well what that weapon was capable of. She had almost used it on Della.

“I’ll do my best to finally cut to the chase.” He replied as he resumed his story. 

He recalled that after the Morocco incident, he had woken up in his bunk back at the academy. It was like everything that had happened back in Morocco - sneaking off onto the helicopter to crash a caper, seeing the city of Casablanca for the first time in his life, his conversation with Della whom he learned was Donald’s twin sister… it all felt like a dream, as if… it never happened. The dream, if he could call it that, had started off good, but it quickly turned into something of a nightmare after the reveal that the life he knew was based entirely on lies. His adoptive parents, the ones who have loved him and raised him since he was five, turned out to be evil, ruthless people who will do what it takes to get what they want, even killing innocent people if it meant getting the job done.

“Things were… strained on my forced return to the Isle of V.I.L.E. Sure, I was on my best, _de-zanitized_ behavior, but I had to endure Coach Pete’s guilt, Dr. Scratchy’s constant surveillance, Baron Plotz’s attempts to tame my zany nature, and Madame Flamiel’s weird psych exams.” He explained, remembering how his relationship with the faculty members have changed since the Morocco incident.

He was expecting to be punished for ruining the caper, or worse, get killed, but... none of that happened. They’d figured that repeating the school year, as intended, would be punishment enough for the young toon. In a way, he got off pretty lucky.

He sighed sadly as he fiddled with his necklace. “But the worst part? I let Slappy-san down. She wouldn’t even talk to me for months. I never felt more alone in my entire life.”

“But what about Pinky and the Brain?” Minerva asked. “You still got them, right?”

“Actually… when Ralph found me in Morocco, he noticed my phone falling off from my pocket during the struggle.” He admitted nervously. “As per school policy, Ralph had my phone confiscated, so any attempts to contact Pinky and the Brain went down the drain.”

“I see.”

Yakko looked at the window, and continued, “When the new school year began, I pretended to throw myself into my coursework. But in reality, I was just biding my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike…”

  
  


_December 1st._

_The weather outside at the Isle of V.I.L.E. was gloomy and ominous; storm clouds gathered overhead whilst a bolt of lightning flashed from a faraway distance. The heavy rain came down, making it difficult for anyone outside to see where they were going._ _It’s dangerous to travel in terrible weather conditions, but as usual, this was the day Miss Norita would come to the island to make her yearly uploads._

_Hiding behind his usual hiding place, 13-year old Lucky Rabbit had his eyes set on the docks. In any normal circumstances, he would have a pile of water balloons at his side, waiting for Miss Norita to exit the boat so that he can throw them at her. This time however, he had no intentions on pulling a prank at her._

_Not that he could do it anyway; the storm was already doing the job for him._

_And then, he saw her boat coming from a distance. It sailed across raging waters towards the docks - he’s amazed that the boat was able to survive in such terrible weather like this._ _Miss Norita was right on time._

_He eyed the boat with a determined look. His first attempt to escape the island may have been a dry one, but this time, he was going to bring in the rain._

_Not wanting to give Miss Norita or Yosemite Sam a chance to catch even a glimpse of him, Lucky Rabbit dashed back into his dorm room to grab what few things he had._

_He opened his student trunk; there were a couple of clothes, his turtleneck jumpsuit, some books, and his beloved music box._

_He carefully picked up his music box. It was the only link he had to his past, alongside his golden necklace. He touched a hand to it tracing its Russian patterns as he had a million times before. There was a tiny hole at the back of the box that was shaped like a flower. Exactly like how his golden necklace was shaped - it was the key to his music box._

_He inserted the necklace into the tiny hole, winding it up until his music box opened, and started playing his song for what would be the last time. He remembered how the words of his song went..._

_“On the wind, ‘cross the sea,_

_Hear this song and remember…”_

_He could feel himself tearing up as his song continued._

_“Soon you’ll be home with me_

_Once upon a December.”_

_He tried fighting back the tears as he put his music box back inside his student trunk. He needed to travel light._

_Instead, he went for his turtleneck jumpsuit - the lightest item he could find. If it were any other situation, he would’ve worn it with pride and honor whilst stealing_ **_for_ ** _V.I.L.E., but he was using it to escape_ **_from_ ** _them. He never felt more alive as he got changed into it._

_Making sure that neither Ralph nor Baloney were around, he quietly slipped out, leaving the music box behind. Slappy-san’s stealth training was beginning to pay off as he silently hurried through the empty hallways._

_“It confounds me that a device registered to our mainland bookkeeping department ever wound up in Lucky Rabbit’s possession to begin with.” He heard Madame Flamiel’s voice coming not too far away._

_It was coming from the study room. He edged closer to the doorway, careful to remain unseen. Peering carefully around the doorframe, he gasped. His phone was on a desk in front of Madame Flamiel with Dr. Scratchy standing next to her._ _Had they been trying to contact Pinky and the Brain the whole time? It had been almost a year since he last talked to them, and he desperately wanted to hear their voices again, even Pinky’s occasional ‘Narf!’. He saw Madame Flamiel taking the phone, putting it in a desk drawer. She then locked it, and put the key in her apron pocket._

_“Vat’s even more confounding is that Lucky Rabbit never submitted ze stolen property for extra credit.” said Dr. Scratchy._

_They turned to leave, and Lucky Rabbit quickly hid behind the doors. He held his breath, not wanting to let Madame Flamiel and Dr. Scratchy know about his presence, unless he knew for certain that they were gone. Once the coast was clear, he hurried inside, and raced toward the desk. Reaching for his hammerspace, he told out a bobby pin, inserting it to the lock. He got to work on picking the lock - he needed his phone. After a couple of tries, the lock snapped open._

_He chuckled. For a school that teaches criminals, he’d expect them to have better locks; ones that would be much harder to pick. Either that, or he’s just too good for them._

_The drawer slid open, and there it was._ _His phone._

_He grabbed it and quickly hid beneath the desk. Putting one of the earbuds into his ear, he hit the autodial._

_“Guten tag! This is Snuggly Duckling Pub. How can I help you? Narf!” He heard Pinky speaking in a thick German accent - that’s Pinky alright!_

_“Pinky? Is that you?” He asked._

_“Of course it’s us, Lucky Rabbit! We’re just messing with you!”_

_“What Pinky meant is that we’re being careful.” He heard Brain’s voice. “Recently, your phone’s been getting some calls from… how do I make this PG..._ **_interesting_ ** _people.”_

_He breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his yakking nature, he couldn’t find the right words to describe how good it felt to hear the voices of his only real friends after almost a year of isolation._

_He knew that he had to come clean with the phone. “Uhhh… it’s not really my phone, guys.”_

_“It’s not?” Pinky asked. He sounded confused. “What are you trying to say here?”_

_“I stole it.”_

_Pinky was silent for a moment. It took time for that little information to get into the tall mouse’s head. “So, you’re a shoplifter… and you haven’t called forever because you’ve been in jail?”_

_“I think the correct term here would be juvie hall.” He heard Brain lecturing Pinky._

_He also knew he had to come clean with his… schooling. For two years, he had kept V.I.L.E.’s existence a secret from them, but now he was done._

_"Remember when you guys told me you used your wicked hacking skills for good?”_

_“The white-hat hacker’s code.” Brain said proudly._

_“Well, what if I told you that I have wicked skills too… from being raised in a school for thieves - dangerous thieves for instance?”_

_He heard silence from the other end._

_“That would definitely explain a lot.” Brain replied._

_“But look at the bright side, Lucky Rabbit,” Pinky was trying his best to cheer him up. “At least now, you can use your thieving skills for good, like Robin Hood.”_

_Lucky Rabbit smiled. At least they’re still willing to be with him despite his unusual upbringing._

_All of a sudden, he heard footsteps approaching, and they were coming straight toward him. He needed to escape fast. He saw an air vent on the ceiling above him. The screws looked loose, and easy to remove._

_“Don’t go anywhere.” He whispered to Pinky and the Brain as he jumped from the desk toward the air vent, leaping through the air like a gymnast._

_He grabbed the vent and pulled it away from its frames, then climbed up into the ceiling. He quickly put the vent back into its frame just as he saw the shadow of a figure entering the study room._

_It was Miss Norita. And she was completely drenched, thanks to the storm. However, it seemed that the fashionista had come prepared; she wore a scarlet-red trench coat and fedora._ _He watched as Miss Norita placed a V.I.L.E. hard drive onto the desk. It was the same hard drive that she would deliver by hand to the island every year. He saw the V.I.L.E. logo marked on its side._

_“Is everything alright, Lucky Rabbit?” He heard Brain starting to get concerned for him._

_“Brain, I am currently staring at a hard drive containing data that could fuel a criminal empire for like a_ **_year._ ** _” He explained in a whisper._

_“Then, you know what you had to do,” Brain replied. “This might be your only chance to secure it.”_

_Stealing that hard drive wasn’t exactly a part of his escape plan. All he wanted to do is to get off the island and never go back, but he knew that Brain was right on that matter. He never realized that something as simple as a hard drive would play a significant role on V.I.L.E.’s criminal operations until now._ _What if he took that_ **_away_ ** _from them? It probably would not be enough to completely_ **_destroy_ ** _V.I.L.E. for good, but it would keep them from hurting innocent people for at least a year._

_He waited for Miss Norita to leave for a moment - hopefully long enough for him to grab the hard drive and get out of here. As soon as the coast was clear, he slowly, but quietly opened the vent, and dropped from the ceiling as quietly and gracefully as a ninja. He hid behind a bookshelf in case Miss Norita decided to come back. The hard drive was only a few feet away. Wasting no time to stop and think, he reached out for it, his fingers almost touching it._

_Just as he was about to grab it..._

_“Norita, what is keeping you?” He jumped at the sound of Baron Plotz’s booming voice coming from the intercom that resided on the desk. “We are anxiously awaiting the upload!”_

_He heard Miss Norita’s stilettos clicking on the tiles. Thinking fast, he hid beneath the desk, tucking his knees up toward his chest. Miss Norita was getting closer to the desk, and all he could see from his hiding place were her red stilettos, and she appeared to be wearing black pants. He couldn’t quite see her fully yet._

_Miss Norita pressed the intercom with her hand. She sounded angry, probably annoyed at having to deal with someone like Baron Plotz. “Have you ever heard of_ **_weather_ ** _, Thaddeus? I have to hang my wet things!”_

_She grabbed the hard drive from the desk. As she stormed out of the study room with it, she didn’t notice Lucky Rabbit coming out from his hiding spot._

_He was disappointed in himself; he had missed it! Might as well go follow her to get it._

_He saw Miss Norita making her way through the halls with the hard drive still in her possession, and fully got a good look at her; she appeared to be wearing a stylish black pantsuit with a yellow scarf slung over her shoulders. She still wore her usual square-shaped, purple-framed glasses._

_He silently followed her, keeping at a safe distance to avoid getting caught._

_“If anyone sees me take that hard drive, I’ll never make it off the island.” He whispered into the phone._

_“You mean the one we still can’t find on the map?” Pinky’s voice asked._

_“Correct. So I need to avoid getting caught at all costs. Otherwise… it’s game over.”_

_For every passing corridor, Lucky Rabbit made sure to let out a quick glance in case someone was watching. As he was getting a quick look at the fourth corridor, however..._

_“Hiya, friend!”_

_He felt all the fur his body suddenly standing on ends. Of all the possible snitches in all the schools, in all the islands, in all the world… it_ **_had_ ** _to be Baloney._

_Baloney was just standing there… barely doing anything aside from waving hello at him. It didn’t help that this particular corridor had lights flickering on and off randomly, unintentionally giving off that creepy and unsettling vibe. It’s as if they were in a horror movie. Even with that creepy vibe going on in the fourth corridor, Baloney was still his usual friendly self - that smile of his was starting to get creepy._

_“Uhhh… hi, Baloney,” Lucky Rabbit forced himself to be friendly with the Barney knockoff, careful to keep his phone hidden. “What’s up?”_

_“Oh, I’m currently playing my favorite game in the whole wide world.” Baloney happily replied._

_Lucky Rabbit raised an eyebrow. “At this hour?”_

_To demonstrate how his favorite game worked, Baloney pretended to pick invisible flowers from the ground. He held them up to his snout, sniffing them._

_“Oh I get it!” Maybe he could stay and humor Baloney for a bit in order to shake him loose. “You’re playing pretend, and you’re pretending to smell the roses right now, am I right?”_

_Baloney giggled. “Goshin’ golly gee! How did you know?”_

_“We used to go to Slappy-san’s charade sessions every Thursday after Stealth 101, remember?”_

_Yep, he remembered charade sessions happening every Thursday last year. The main purpose of having these sessions is to help students (both toons and non-toons) better communicate with those who happened to be deaf or mute (like the Mine student), but that’s not the only purpose it had. Slappy-san had explained at the beginning of the sessions the importance of having to learn other means of communication - how would a future operative be able to communicate if they lost the use of their voice for whatever reason? He remembered how Baloney loved participating in these sessions, even though he had been oblivious to its true purposes._

_Baloney sighed happily. “Yum yum doodle dum, those were the happy days.”_

_Lucky Rabbit cringed as he slowly started to walk away from Baloney. “Yeah… it’s been nice talking to you, but uhhh… I’m needed somewhere right now.”_

_“Gee, maybe I can tag along and keep you company.” Baloney suggested with an even bigger grin on his face, pulling Lucky Rabbit into a tight, uncomfortable hug. “Two heads are better than one, am I right?”_

_“C-can’t… breathe…” Lucky Rabbit wheezed as he tried to pry himself out of Baloney’s hug of death._

_“Lucky Rabbit, who are you talking to?” He heard Pinky’s voice asking him in the midst of all the confusion. “Is he a friend of yours?”_

_“Quiet, Pinky!” He heard Brain’s voice trying to silence Pinky. “You’ll get Lucky Rabbit in trouble!”_

_This went unnoticed by both Baloney and Lucky Rabbit - the former was too focused on the hug so he dismissed the voices as being all in his head, and the latter was too focused on getting himself free unless he wanted to get suffocated to death. Baloney had taken notice of Lucky Rabbit struggling to get out, so he did what any normal person would do - he let go of him, causing the young toon to land on the ground with a THUD!_

_The impact of the fall had caused the phone to slip out of Lucky Rabbit’s pocket._

_“Sorry about that, friend,” Baloney apologized as he helped Lucky Rabbit on his feet._

_Lucky Rabbit nearly had a panic attack when he saw his phone out in the open. He quickly grabbed it, and put it back in his pocket. He had hope that Baloney wouldn’t notice._

_“Hey, didn’t your phone get confiscated by the teachers after that Morocco incident last year?” Baloney asked curiously._

_Too late._

_“Lucky Rabbit?” He was starting to get worried when Lucky Rabbit didn’t respond to him. Suddenly everything clicked - the voices he had heard from Lucky Rabbit’s phone earlier were in fact real and not all in his head. Was Lucky Rabbit trying to jeopardize his criminal future by making contact with the outside world?_

_After what felt like forever, Lucky Rabbit spoke, letting out a small but rather unsettling cackle that was very reminiscent of how a Saturday-morning cartoon villain would react when their scheme got foiled, “So you’ve finally figured it out?”_

_Lucky Rabbit didn’t dare to look at Baloney in the eyes. He pulled away from Baloney’s grip, and pulled out what looked like a TV remote control from his hammerspace. He let out a huge grin, exposing his canine teeth to Baloney._

_If Baloney was being honest with himself, he was starting to feel scared right now._

_“Y-you do realize that I’m going to have to tell the teachers on you for this.” Baloney tried reasoning with Lucky Rabbit, he could feel himself shaking nervously. “Making contact with the outside world is against the rules.”_

_“Oh, I can’t let you do that, Baloney.”_

_And with that, Lucky Rabbit pressed the big red button from the TV remote, and before Baloney could even react…_

_WHAM!_

_..an anvil had fallen onto his head, knocking him out cold._

_“That’s for ratting me out back in Morocco, you snitch!”_

_Lucky Rabbit had figured that if he left Baloney alone in this state, with an anvil on his head to boot, it would raise a lot of questions, and he would most likely be the prime suspect. He did not want to entertain that possibility right now._ _He would have to act fast._ _He pulled the anvil off of Baloney’s head, and stored it into his hammerspace. Next, he pulled out a few chains from his hammerspace, using them to restrain Baloney so that he wouldn’t run off. As an added bonus, he used duct tape to tape Baloney’s mouth shut so that he wouldn’t call for help either._

_Finished with his work, he dragged the unconscious dinosaur, by the feet, to a nearby supply closet. This was a difficult process - Baloney was roughly twice his size! Using one of his hands, he opened the door, and shoved Baloney inside with his toon strength._

_“You’re not going anywhere until you’ve learned your lesson on why being a snitch is wrong.” Lucky Rabbit lectured the unconscious Baloney._

_He was about to leave when he spotted something resting on the shelf behind Baloney; it was a handyman’s toolkit, and it was shaped like the hard drive. This could come in handy, no pun intended._

_“Don’t worry, I’m sure someone would eventually come by and let you out… or not.” He spoke to Baloney again who was starting to come round._

_He gave Baloney one last grin before locking him inside the closet. “Bye.”_

_He placed an earbud onto his ear. “You guys’ still alive back in Burbank?”_

_“I must admit that what you did to that Baloney fellow was both incredible and terrifying.” Brain replied. “Remind me to not get on your bad side in the future.”_

_“Noted.”_

_With the obnoxious Barney knockoff out of the way, Lucky Rabbit went off to find Miss Norita again. He sprinted through the halls, being careful to not get spotted by other potential snitches in the process. He frantically went from one corridor to another, but there was no sight of Miss Norita. Did taking care of Baloney take him so long that he had lost track of where the fashionista might be?_

_What if she had already made it to the server room and uploaded the data? What if it was too late?_

_Finally, after what felt like forever, he had caught sight of her yellow scarf. He skidded to a halt, ducking for cover behind a nearby trash can. He saw Miss Norita standing in front of an elevator at the end of the hallway. She pulled out a keycard from her pocket, and swiped it at the elevator control pad. The light on the pad turned green, granting her access to use the elevator._

_Getting the hard drive from her was going to be difficult now._

_“Keycard-activated elevator,” Lucky Rabbit informed Brain. “If Miss Norita makes it to the server room, she’ll upload the data from the hard drive.”_

_“And you can’t let her see you take it,” Brain added. “But if that elevator leaves without you, you might not get another chance to steal that hard drive.”_

_Lucky Rabbit casted a quick glance at the toolkit in his hand. A light bulb went off. He smiled and said, “I’ve got an idea.”_

_“You’re going to make a break for it?” Pinky asked curiously._

_“Uhh… something like that.”_

_He saw Miss Norita entering the elevator with the hard drive in hand. He darted off towards it with the toolkit in hand. The doors were about to close. There’s no way he’ll make it._

_Unless…_

_Thinking quickly, he slid the toolkit across the floor toward the elevator. It narrowly managed to keep the doors from fully closing. The doors reopened, allowing Lucky Rabbit to quickly step inside the elevator, giving the startled Miss Norita a smile and a wave._

_“Sorry for the scare, ma’am.” Lucky Rabbit tried to reassure her in his most adult-sounding voice. He picked up the toolkit from the floor. “I’m an IT trainee, and it’s important that I check the server room right away for, uh… loose cables and faulty wiring.”_

_Miss Norita simply stared at him with a frown, but said nothing as the elevator doors finally closed. Both occupants could feel the elevator going down._

_The ride down was filled with silence, save for some cheesy elevator music being played in the background on loop. Neither Lucky Rabbit nor Miss Norita have said a word to each other. The former was nervously looking at his feet while the latter studied him carefully with a stoic expression on her face._

_She put the hard drive in her pocket. She figured that it wouldn’t hurt to at least make small talks with the young toon. “You’ve gotten… taller since the last time I saw you, Lucky Rabbit.”_

_“It comes with age, really,” Lucky Rabbit replied nervously. “And with age comes maturity, am I right?”_

_Miss Norita raised a brow._

_“Anyway, the reason I’m here is because, well… I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” He looked around the elevator, scratching the back of his neck. “In private I mean.”_

_“I see.” Miss Norita said._

_“Uhh… I just wanted to let you know how super ashamed I was for all the really dumb pranks I’ve pulled on you over the years,” He had said it as sincerely as he could in the hopes that it wouldn’t raise suspicions._

_Miss Norita thought about what Lucky Rabbit had said, and replied, “That would explain why there wasn’t a water balloon attack tonight, not that it would do any good. The storm already did the job for you.”_

_“Yeah, the water balloons were pointless to begin with,” Lucky Rabbit laughed nervously. “Again, I’m really sorry for doing that.”_

_“I suppose I would blame your unusual upbringing for it,” Her expression had changed into a more caring smile. “After all, one can’t be expected to behave honorably when raised among thieves.”_

_Lucky Rabbit gave her the sweetest smile he could make, and extended his hand. “Shake on it, Miss Norita?”_

_She shook his hand. “Call me Nora.”_

_Finally, the elevator doors opened - they’ve made it to the server room._

_Miss Norita was the first to step out of the elevator. She turned to Lucky Rabbit, and said, “You seemed like a smart bunny. If you wish to walk in my shoes one day, set your sights higher than simply pulling pranks or picking pockets.”_

_“What do you have in mind, Nora?” Lucky Rabbit asked curiously._

_“Why not try stealing from businesses like I do? Or maybe you’d prefer stealing priceless artifacts like the famous Venus de Milo statue? White-collar crime is where the real money is.”_

_“Thank you for the career advice, Nora. I will take it to heart.”_

_Lucky Rabbit let out a huge smile as he watched Miss Norita walking toward the servers. She waved her hand over her head as if she were a pageant queen or a supermodel at the fashion runway. “Arrivederci!”_

_The doors closed, and the elevator began going up. Lucky Rabbit sighed in relief._

_“Everything okay, Lucky Rabbit?” Brain asked._

_Lucky Rabbit let out a mischievous grin, and said, “Brain, say hello to_ **_bait-and-switch._ ** _It’s where you switch the object you wanted to steal with something else without letting anyone know… like what I just did with the hard drive.”_

_He held up the hard drive that was now in his possession._

_“I must say I’m impressed, Lucky Rabbit.”_

_Lucky Rabbit let out a bow. “Thank you, Brain.”_

_But it was not over just yet. There’s still the matter of getting off the island._

_The elevator finally came to a stop, and the doors were opened - he had made it back to the academy corridor. He slowly stepped out of the elevator, keeping the hard drive close to his side._

_“Hey Brain, if Lucky Rabbit’s got the hard drive, what did Miss Norita get?” He heard Pinky ask Brain._

_All of a sudden, the lights went off. For a few moments, everything went dark, and then, red lights appeared. They casted an eerie red glow throughout the hall, accompanied by the very loud alarm sound. He knew too well what was going on - Miss Norita must’ve caught wind of his little bait-and-switch when trying to upload the drive to the server, and sounded the alarm in retaliation._

_This was code red. The entire island was going on full lockdown._

_“Does that answer your question, Pinky?”_

_No response._

_“Guys? Can you hear me?”_

_He heard nothing from the other end of the line. That could only mean one thing - the signals were jammed thanks to code red._

_“Looks like I’m on my own.” He muttered to himself as he put the phone away in his hammerspace, and made a run for it, no longer caring if anyone, snitch or otherwise, saw him. He knew how much danger he was in right now. He needed to get out of here._

_The sewers! It had worked when he made his first attempt to escape last year. Second time should work like a charm._

_But then he realized something - no way was he going to flush himself down the toilet this time! He can’t afford to stop and take a quick shower while trying to avoid everyone on the island that wanted to catch him. Plus, Baloney must’ve told the faculty_ **_how_ ** _he escaped the first time, so there was a good chance that they had the grate bolted shut so that he wouldn’t be able to do it again._

_The sewers were out of the question._

_He looked at the hard drive in his hand - all the data stored in there would keep V.I.L.E. going for another year. With it, they could do many horrible, terrible things all across the world, just like what happened back in Morocco last year. He thought about what Della had told him, about how some stuff have value that went beyond what they’re worth in terms of money, like the Eye of Vishnu._

_V.I.L.E., for all he knew,_ **_never_ ** _understood that. They never had, and they never will._

_He also thought about what Pinky had told him, something about using his thieving skills for good like Robin Hood. That’s when he knew what he had to do once he got off the island - take V.I.L.E. down for good._

_He ran through the hallways again, focusing on finding another way to get out of the building. He stayed closed to the corners and the walls so as to not get spotted. He was making his way past the faculty lounge when he heard Dr. Scratchy’s voice, and stopped._

_“It is past curfew.” He heard Dr. Scratchy talking to the other faculty members. He sounded sad. “All ze students are in zeir bunks, except…”_

_“Lucky Rabbit.” He heard Slappy-san say his name in a way that made him deeply afraid of her for the first time._

_“The boy_ **_must_ ** _be punished.” He heard Madame Flamiel speak._

_He felt his heart stopped for a beat. He knew that unless he could find another escape route fast, he would be trapped, and he knew for certain that the faculty would not let him get off easy this time if he got caught._

_He turned to leave, running down the corridor, but stopped when he heard voices nearby. It was coming from the end of the corridor. He slowly walked towards the end, and peered out to see Miss Norita arguing with Baron Plotz._

_“Thaddeus, was it necessary to put the entire island on lockdown?” Miss Norita argued. “Lucky Rabbit may be a menace, sure, but he’s still a child.”_

_Baron Plotz couldn’t resist the urge to laugh in disgust, and angrily fired back at her, “Ha! I wouldn’t bother calling Lucky Rabbit a child! He is nothing more than a dangerous_ **_monster_ ** _who has gone completely out of control!”_

_He jabbed his stubby little finger at her which barely missed her chest by a few inches, and continued ranting, “And thanks to_ **_your_ ** _utter incompetence, he’s got his hands on that hard drive which could ruin V.I.L.E.’s income for the next year! We must retrieve that hard drive at once!”_

_Lucky Rabbit couldn’t help but be disgusted by Baron Plotz’s awful behavior towards Miss Norita. Out of the five faculty members, Baron Plotz was his_ **_least_ ** _favorite._

_Miss Norita seemed unfazed by Baron Plotz’s temper tantrum. “Well, it’s not my problem anymore so if you don’t mind, provide me with clearance to leave.”_

_“Fine! Good riddance, woman!”_

_“Thank you very much. I’ll just collect my coat and be off.”_

_Lucky Rabbit heard everything. If Miss Norita had been given permission to leave the island…_

_He had an idea._

_He hurried back to the study room before Miss Norita could. He knew this was where she stored her stuff upon arrival. He opened the closets, and searched through them all until he found what he was looking for - Miss Norita’s scarlet-red trench coat and fedora._

_Code red._

_\-----_

_Ralph had been tasked to stand guard by the main entrance during the whole lockdown, however, he was doing less of standing guard and more of reading a comic book he had brought with him for the job. Honestly, he would rather be in his room, watching TV and eating food right about now than keeping people from getting in and out of the building, not that it mattered anyway._

_Throughout his years as V.I.L.E.’s cleaner and the occasional security guard, hardly anything out of the ordinary happened on the island, save for Lucky Rabbit’s harmless pranks._ _Heck, this was the first time the island had been placed under lockdown, and as far as Ralph could remember, the last time it happened was many, many years ago involving Slappy-san’s predecessor - a toon rabbit known as Oswald the Trickster. He used to teach Stealth 101 and Toon Physics back then, and he was considered one of the best and most ruthless thieves V.I.L.E. had ever seen - he was completely in a league on his own. It had been a shock to V.I.L.E. one day when Oswald decided to just… leave everything behind, hence the lockdown happened. True to his nature, Oswald had successfully managed to escape with his life… and then he disappeared, never to be seen again._

_Nobody knew where Oswald had run off too… or if he was even alive today._ _They never found the body._

_“Ralph!” The sound of Baron Plotz’s booming voice coming from his walkie-talkie had startled him, forcing him to drop the comic book he was currently reading._

_Ralph quickly grabbed his walkie-talkie. “Duh… yeah, boss?”_

_“Allow Miss Norita to leave the premise… or terminate her, whichever you prefer. That woman has caused enough damage for one night.”_

_He caught sight of Miss Norita approaching the main entrance as he picked up his comic book, eying her very carefully. She looked the same, but he noticed something different. Her head had been completely hidden underneath the fedora to the point where he couldn’t see her face clearly. The only thing he could see was her black hair._

_“Miss Norita?” Ralph asked._

_Miss Norita stayed silent. She was just a few steps away from the main doors._

_“Duh… stay safe on the boat ride back home.” Ralph said happily as he pressed a button from the walkie-talkie. The main entrance doors opened. “See you next year.”_

_“Thank you, Ralph.” Miss Norita replied, her voice sounded… a bit off to say the least. As she walked past the doors, she waved her hand over her head as if she were a pageant queen or a supermodel at the fashion runway. “Arrivederci!”_

_Ralph smiled as he watched Miss Norita walk further away from the building. Despite her usual cold demeanor, she was actually very nice to him. He returned to his post and resumed reading his comic book. But just as he was starting to get invested in the story…_

_“RALPH, YOU IMBECILE! EXPLAIN TO ME WHY PETE AND I FOUND MISS NORITA TIED UP IN THE CLOSET?!”_

_Baron Plotz sounded furious on the other end of his walkie-talkie, and it scared him. Now that he thought about it, that wasn’t the real Miss Norita exiting the building - it was_ **_Lucky Rabbit_ ** _in disguise. And boy was it a good disguise. It had fooled him brilliantly._

_‘Duh... what do you want me to do about it? Lucky Rabbit’s already out.” Ralph replied. If he was in the same room as Baron Plotz right now, he would see the short baron pulling out whatever hair was left in his balding head in anger, and foam coming out of his mouth like a rabid dog._

_“I WANT YOU TO GO OUT THERE AND CAPTURE HIM RIGHT NOW OR SO HELP ME I’LL TERMINATE YOU MYSELF! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”_

_“R-right away, boss. I’ll go catch Lucky Rabbit.” The comic book would have to wait._

_He quickly grabbed a nearby toon-proof net, and rushed outside to try to capture Lucky Rabbit by foot. Unfortunately for him, Lucky Rabbit was too far away for him to catch up - he’s already near the docks. He also saw Yosemite Sam pulling a harpoon from the boat, intending to kill Lucky Rabbit on the spot - he must’ve gotten the memo from Baron Plotz too._

_Ralph couldn’t help but be afraid for Lucky Rabbit’s life, even if the young toon’s entire motive was to escape from the island._

_SMACK!_

_Ralph saw Lucky Rabbit easily take down an angry Yosemite Sam with one of the two stilts stolen from Coach Pete that was used to help with his Miss Norita disguise earlier. He watched as Yosemite Sam fell off the deck and landed on the pier, losing consciousness. With Yosemite Sam lying unconscious, Ralph saw Lucky Rabbit taking the boat keys from his jacket pocket, and jumped onto the boat - he was going to try to start it up._

_Slappy-san arrived outside a few minutes later. She pulled out a katana from its sheath, and told him, “Go start the chopper, Ralph! The kid won’t get far by boat!”_

_Ralph obeyed as he ran off to the landing pad to start the helicopter while Slappy-san ran off after Lucky Rabbit. Once he arrived, Ralph got inside the cockpit and turned on the ignition. It started off good but then… the engine stalled. He tried again. Engine stalled again and then… it went quiet._ _Confused, Ralph got out to check the engine - the red wires were cut. Lucky Rabbit must’ve known that Ralph was going to use the helicopter, so he had it sabotaged beforehand._

_That kid does_ **_not_ ** _miss a trick._

_Meanwhile, Lucky Rabbit managed to turn on the ignition to get the boat engine started when he heard a familiar voice coming not too far away…_

_“LUCKY RABBIT!”_

_He saw a figure on the rocks running quickly toward the boat - too quickly. He saw a bright flash of light, and he immediately recognized it as a glint of steel reflecting the moonlight. His heart stopped for a beat._

_It was Slappy-san, unsheathed katana in hand. And she was going after him._

_The boat engine was now roaring like a lion, but now Lucky Rabbit’s got another problem to deal with… he doesn’t know how to drive a boat! What’s worse is that Slappy-san is getting closer with every passing second - she’s near the pier now! Panicking, he saw a lever next to the steering wheel, and instincts kicked in as he pushed the lever forward, causing the boat to suddenly move far away from the pier before Slappy-can could even get close enough to jump onboard._

_Slappy-san could only watch as the boat pulled away from the island with Lucky Rabbit standing tall on its deck - still wearing Miss Norita’s red coat and fedora._

_The two of them looked at each other for a few moments, neither of them said a word. Lucky Rabbit showed no signs of being afraid whereas Slappy-san just simply sheath her katana. Lucky Rabbit grabbed the wheel to steady the boat’s course, and drove farther and farther away from the island._

_He looked back only once to see the island getting smaller and smaller the further he went, until it was nothing more than a speck of sand and palm trees in the distance. Then, it disappeared from the view entirely._ _He didn’t see any helicopters or boats coming after him. He breathed a sigh of relief._

_It was over._

_He was finally leaving the Isle of V.I.L.E. for good._

_The storm had died down, and all he saw were the bright stars in the night sky._ _He felt a buzzing coming from his hammerspace. He pulled out his phone, and saw a familiar white fedora graphic on the screen - Pinky and the Brain were obviously worried sick._

_“Lucky Rabbit, are you alright?” He heard Brain getting worried for him._

_“I made it,” Lucky Rabbit cried, happy to talk to Pinky and the Brain again. “I’m off the island. For good this time.”_

_“Well that sure explains why everything got very quiet earlier!” Pinky cried out. “We thought you were a goner for sure!”_

_“Believe me, Pinky. The nightmare is finally over, and I need to know... where on Earth am I right now.”_

_“You’re in luck because I’ve taken the time to triangulate your position,” Brain informed Lucky Rabbit. “You’re in the Canary Islands.”_

_“Egad! There are islands full of yellow birds, Brain?” He heard Pinky cry out in excitement._

_“Pinky!”_

_“Not the kind of Canary Islands Brain was talking about, Pinky,” Lucky Rabbit intervened, chuckling at Pinky’s innocent question. “It’s a Spanish settlement that is just off the coast of West Africa.”_

_Yes, the Canary Islands was indeed an interesting place to grow up in and have wonderful childhood memories, but now, it’s time to see the rest of the world with his own eyes, this time, for real. And take down V.I.L.E. as well - he’s got the hard drive with him._

_“You guys ready to travel around the world with me and kick some V.I.L.E. butt? I could use some tech support along the way.”_

_“It would be an honor to accompany you, Lucky Rabbit.” Brain was genuinely interested in the idea. “But first, there is the matter of getting to know each other better in person if we’re going to make this work. You will need to come to Burbank as soon as possible.”_

_“But Brain, he’ll need a passport to get to California,” He heard Pinky voicing his concern. “I hate to be rude here, but Lucky Rabbit doesn’t sound like a normal name.”_

_“Neither is my name, you nitwit.”_

_Lucky Rabbit wondered… what other name could he go by? Lucky Rabbit’s been the only name he had since he could remember. He can’t even remember what his name used to be in the first five years of his life._

_The first five years he could not recall, sadly._

_“Lucky Rabbit,” He heard Brain speaking to him again. “I’m well aware that you don’t know your real name and all, but Pinky brought up a good point here. If you’re planning on seeing the world without getting into any legal trouble with the authorities, you’ll need a passport_ **_and_ ** _a convincing name to go along with it.”_

_“So I get to pick a new name for myself?” Lucky Rabbit asked, smiling a little._

_“That is correct.”_

_The wind flapped against the brim of Miss Norita’s hat, causing it to hit his face multiple times. Annoyed by it, Lucky Rabbit took it off, preparing to toss it out into the ocean when something caught his eye._

_There was a label sewn into the side of it. Bringing it closer, it read,_

**_Carmen Brand Outwear. Made in San Diego, California._ **

_He liked the sound of the name of the Californian city, San Diego. It sounded convincing enough - maybe have the multi-worded city name merge into one, and it’ll work as a fantastic surname. But then there’s the matter of coming up with a first name._

_His first thought went to Rob, the name he had used during the Morocco incident. It sounded normal enough, but then he realized that it would not work for two reasons. One, it didn’t quite match well with a surname like Sandiego, and two, there was a good chance that Della and whoever survived the Morocco incident last year would inform the authorities about his involvement in the theft of the Eye of Vishnu whilst being questioned - if he used that name and the authorities caught wind of this, his plans to travel around the world would be cut short and he wouldn’t be able to take down V.I.L.E. while being in jail._

_Then he thought about the brand name, Carmen. It matched with Sandiego much better than Rob, plus he recalled from one of the books he read as a young child that Carmen was a unisex name, meaning that it can be used both as a girl’s name and a boy’s name. He had considered using that name, but then he remembered that nowadays, that name had been used as a girl’s name more times than as a boy’s name. It was just like the name, Leslie - a unisex name, but primarily used as a girl’s name._

_What other name could he use? For someone who had a knack for yakking off, he sure was having a hard time trying to come up with a good name._

_Wait._

_What if he named himself after his talkative nature? He was well known for being the one who yaks._

_Gabby? No, that sounded too girly for his taste, and people might not take him seriously with a name like that. Slick? This was something a V.I.L.E. operative would use as their codename to fit with their talkative and sleazy nature. Chatto? Good, but it’s not the kind of name he was looking for. Yakky? It’s better than Chatto, and it sounded like the kind of name a toon would use, but it still didn’t sound quite right to him._

_What if he combined Chatto and Yakky together? Chatty, Chakky, Yatto, Chatko, Yakko…_

_Yakko!_

_That’s the name he was looking for to go with his talkative nature, and it matched perfectly well with Sandiego._

_“How about Yakko Sandiego?” He asked Brain._

_“Hmm… I must admit that the name does have a nice ring to it.” Brain replied, thinking long and hard about Lucky Rabbit’s new name. “It’s perfect!”_

_“I like that name very much!” Pinky cried. “It suits you a lot! Narf!”_

_Then it was settled. He flipped the bright red hat back onto his head and pulled it down across his face. He felt his confidence growing by the second._

_That night marked the death of Lucky Rabbit…_

_…_ _and the birth of Yakko Sandiego._

  
  


“End of the line.”

Minerva’s voice, combined with the train’s brakes squeaking, snapped Yakko back into reality. The train drew near the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, and Yakko knew that his time was up.

Minerva leaned forward, the crackle rod still in her grip. “We missed you, Lucky Rabbit. V.I.L.E. is asking for a truce.”

_Missed me?_ Yakko thought angrily. V.I.L.E. was only saying that because he knew that they wanted him to steal _for_ them rather than _from_ them. Plus, there was a good chance that they had Dr. Scratchy create a mind-controlling device with the sole purpose of having complete control over him, forcing him to do their bidding. He promised himself that he wouldn’t be forced to go through with that kind of mental torture as long as he lived.

“I don’t buy it.” He angrily told her.

Minerva sighed. She could sense Yakko’s hesitation, and honestly, she didn’t blame him. She reasoned, “Kid, you’ve proven yourself. That’s all you’ve ever wanted, right?”

Yakko said nothing. He knew that Minerva brought up a good point there - he had _wanted_ to prove to V.I.L.E., especially to both Baron Plotz and Slappy-san, that he was the best toon thief they could ever have, but at what cost? Betrayal from the people whom he once called friends and family, three innocent people killed in cold blood, and Della… she may have escaped with her life, but had to pay the price by losing her leg, and it was all thanks to Donald, her _brother._

“The league’s offering you a full pardon, even Baron Plotz’s on board.” Minerva tried pleading with Yakko. “They’ll make things right if you just come home, kid… where you belong.”

Yakko was moved by what Minerva had told him. He broke his silence with a small smile.

“Y’know, I was hoping we’d be on the same side tonight, Minerva…”

Minerva smiled. She was getting through to him.

“... _my_ side to be precise.”

She frowned. She had been so close. “Still in a league of your own, kid?”

Yakko smirked, resting his hands behind his head. “You know it, toots.”

Minerva nodded slowly, and then raised the crackle rod. She turned the dial up to full power, and Yakko saw a dangerous amount of electricity charging up inside the rod. She pointed the deadly weapon at him.

“Goodbye, Lucky Rabbit.” She said remorsefully.

Yakko became unfazed by the fact that Minerva was going to kill him any second now. He was actually more annoyed at Minerva using his dead name.

“Yeah... that name's long dead, toots. I go by Yakko now.”

With that being said, he lunged for the rod which caught Minerva off-guard. Several electrical shots were made through the train roof during the struggle, but he managed to grab it from her so quickly that the mink hardly saw him move at all. One second, he was in his seat looking unfazed, and then the next thing she knew, he was angrily pointing the crackle rod at her.

She braced herself for the impact. Nothing happened.

“Uhhh... why isn’t it working?” Yakko asked in confusion.

Minerva replied triumphantly, “Fingerprint recognition, kid. Only I can use it.”

She grab hold of the crackle rod with the intention of taking it away from Yakko. Big mistake. Before she could even react, Yakko, despite being younger than her, had roundhouse kicked her into the window by the face. With a loud squeak, she slowly slid to the floor, and went unconscious. Yakko smirked as he snapped the crackle rod in two pieces.

It was obvious that Minerva didn't protect the face.

At the same time, the train finally came to a complete stop at the Gare du Nord train station. And by pure coincidence, the EMP had finally worn off.

_“Yakko! Thank god you’re back online!"_ He heard Brain’s voice from his ear communicator.

“Hey, Brain.” Yakko replied nonchalantly.

_“What in Spielberg’s name happened? We were worried sick when we couldn’t reach you!”_

Yep, he could always count on his mice dads putting his safety and well-being above everything else - even Brain’s desire to take over the world. He took a quick glance at Minerva’s unconscious body on the floor. “Oh, I had a run-in with some hot mink from my past during the train ride. That, and she caused an EMP which would explain why I couldn’t get a hold of you in the first place.”

_“Ooo, did you two have a good time together?”_ Pinky asked curiously.

_“Pinky, there are kids reading this fanfic!”_ He heard Brain yell at Pinky. _“Please keep it PG!”_

“Yeah… not the kind of good time you had in mind, Pinky.” He answered Pinky’s question with a smirk. “Minerva’s more of a cool big sister to me, but don’t tell Dot I said that.”

“ _Right-o, Yakko! Hey, that rhymes!”_

Yakko smiled. He loved to see, and hear, Pinky being happy.

He grabbed his black and red satchel that still contained his stolen prize, and prepared to make his exit.

“Brain, you might want to let Wakko know that I’m on my way to the rendezvous point.” Yakko informed Brain about the next phase of the plan.

And with any luck, he would not have to run into any more obstacles along the way - whether it’d be V.I.L.E. or Interpol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this chapter. Much like the previous one, I had to cut out a couple of parts so that it wouldn't go on for too long, and put them in the next chapter.
> 
> We've finally got Yakko's past out of the way, so we've got one more chapter to go through (which involves everyone's favorite Looney Tunes duo, Daffy and Porky) before we could even get to the fun part of this AU... the capers! Wakko and Dot finally get a mention in this chapter for now, also... who is this Oswald the Trickster that Ralph the cleaner brought up? We'll just have to wait and see in the upcoming chapters.
> 
> Also, some of you may have already know that Pete and Slappy are stand-ins for Coach Brunt and Shadowsan respectively, but when it came to Miss Flamiel, Plotz, and Dr. Scratchansniff, it can be... somewhat difficult as to which role they're playing in this AU, so just to clarify; Miss Flamiel is standing in as Professor Maelstrom, Plotz is standing in as Countess Cleo, and Dr. Scratchansniff is standing in as Dr. Bellum... however there have been some moments in this chapter where Miss Flamiel and Plotz are both taking turns channeling their inner Maelstrom, moreso with Plotz who does share some personality traits with Maelstrom than Miss Flamiel who is actually a stand-in for that character.
> 
> Up next... Daffy is still hot on Yakko's trail.


End file.
